Arsenal's mental strength was called into question after a blip harmed their Premier League title charge last month.
Mikel Arteta's men played out goalless draws with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, before losing 3-2 to Manchester United in a dramatic finale at the Emirates.
A three-game winless run wouldn't normally be cause for major concern, but with Arsenal aiming to win their first Premier League title for 22 years - after finishing runners-up in the past three seasons - familiar doubts over whether they can hold their nerve have begun to resurface.
'Too smart' Owen Hargreaves makes Mikel Arteta mentality claim
Arsenal are six points clear of second-place Manchester City but that gap could have halved by the time they kick off at Brentford on Thursday night, with Pep Guardiola's men hosting Fulham 24 hours earlier.
The Gunners also play the day after their title rivals on the two matchdays that follow this week's games, including their trip to Tottenham Hotspur for the North London derby on Sunday, February 22, which follows City's home match against Newcastle United the evening before.
It's the same story when Arsenal host Chelsea on Sunday, March 1, with City at Leeds United the evening before, so a win for Guardiola's side will pile the pressure on the league leaders.
But Owen Hargreaves - who was part of four Premier League-winning squads across spells at the two Manchester clubs - believes Arsenal and Arteta won't be affected by that quirk of the fixture list.
Speaking ahead of the midweek action on TNT Sports, the pundit said: "You can't really control the fixture list as a player. I think the real trick, and younger players probably struggle with this, because you get too far ahead of yourself, whereas the ones who've been in and around the game a long time, they realise, the next game, don't really count if we don't win ours.
"So, you don't really want to do anything to distract yourself. I wasn't a big fan of watching games like that if, say, we were playing after, because I wouldn't want it to cloud my judgment.
"I wouldn't think, 'Oh, they lost, so we can take it easy'. I just think the reason Arsenal are in the position they're in is because they've treated every game with the utmost respect and gone for it and played to their best.
"Try not to worry about everybody. Whatever Arsenal have been doing up to this point is working. So, just keep doing that. Mikel is too smart. He won't get caught up in all that."
Arteta is chasing his first Premier League title as a manager and only his second major trophy in charge of Arsenal, having lifted the FA Cup in 2020.
He was part of City's coaching staff for Guardiola's first two English top-flight title wins, in 2017/18 and 2018/19, before getting the top job at the Emirates in December 2019.
