Arsenal are staring down the barrel of missing out on Champions League qualification for next season but Gunners legend Nigel Winterburn believes it would be "huge disappointment" were they to fail now.
Mikel Arteta's side were long viewed as the odds-on favourites for the much-coveted fourth spot after an impressive run of form at the turn of the calendar year saw them register crucial wins over the likes of Wolves, Leicester and Aston Villa. However, two defeats from their last two games has curtailed any momentum the Gunners were building.
The first came away from home to Crystal Palace as another former Arsenal hero in Patrick Vieira led the Eagles to a 3-0 win at Selhurst Park. That fixture was followed by an even more damaging 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Brighton.
As a result, the Gunners have seen their neighbours and fierce rivals Tottenham leapfrog them into fourth place as the season approaches its final furlong. Much of the dent in morale felt around the red half of North London stems from Arsenal's fixture run-in from now until the end of the campaign.
Arteta's troops are currently gearing up for a trip to Southampton this Saturday, before games against Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham all in succession. Arsenal are entering a defining period of a season that had promised so much.
With that being said, Winterburn has explained how he was never particularly hopeful of Champions League qualification this term. Speaking exclusively to Mirror Football on behalf of FreeSuperTips, the ex-Arsenal left-back said: "I said at the start of the season that Arsenal wouldn't get the top four, I didn't think they were ready for it.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Arsenal finish in the top four this season? Comment below
"A few weeks ago, with the way we were playing and the games in hand we had that we would finish in the top four, but that just shows how quickly things can change. From where we were, I think there it would be a huge disappointment if we don't finish in those Champions League positions. But I think if we don't then we reset and go again."
Despite being appointed in late 2019, Winterburn feels as if this campaign is the first we have seen of Arteta's own training and coaching techniques. "This is the first season where we've seen the methods of Mikel Arteta, he's had European football and Covid to deal with, which I know is the same for everyone, but as a new manager, you want that time on the training pitch to implement ideas.
"He's needed to make huge changes to the personnel which he started to do, and I actually think we're a little short right now in terms of players. He needs players that he's confident in playing week in week out if there are any injuries or problems with the regular players."
