Verm warfare

BATTLE OF THE BELG ... Thomas Vermaelen has praised Arsenal's fighting spirit

THOMAS VERMAELEN says Arsenal's fighting spirit can see them home in the scrap for third place.

The Gunners moved into the top three for the first time this season with a gritty 1-0 win at Everton on Wednesday, while Tottenham stumbled to a home draw with Stoke.

It is a world away from the dismal days of their worst start to a season in 58 years, when Arsene Wenger's men lay 17th at the end of September.

Things were so grim for the Gunners that people were even questioning whether it was time for Wenger to go, while the team was written off as lacking the stomach for a real battle.

Yet after Vermaelen's second goal in as many games made it six league victories on the bounce at Goodison Park, the Belgian centre-back is convinced Wenger's men are in the top three to stay.

He said: "We're always confident, especially if we keep winning games as we are. We've had some good results against some difficult teams.

"Look at the win at Everton. They have beaten teams like Manchester City and Spurs, so everyone knows it's not an easy place to come and get a result. But we showed good mentality again, winning a lot of duels at the back and that's why we got the three points."

There was a time when even reaching the Champions League qualifiers looked no more than a pipe dream.

But with Tottenham picking up just one point from the last 12, third spot — and an automatic place at Europe's top table — is now suddenly Arsenal's for the taking.

Vermaelen, 26, added: "We certainly won't be looking at Tottenham, only ourselves. We have some difficult games. Everyone can beat everyone else in this league and, of course, we had a few ups and downs earlier in the season.

"Being in the Champions League is very important and we know finishing third gives you straight qualification for it.

"Finish fourth and you have to play a qualifier. But it's not going to be easy because there are still a lot of games to play. We'll just stay focused and see how far we go."