Saturday 4 February 2017 12:29, UK
Arsene Wenger has warned his players to focus on facing Chelsea on Saturday, not about his future at Arsenal.
The 67-year-old Gunners boss is yet to make an announcement on whether he will remain at the Emirates Stadium beyond his current contract, which is set to expire in the summer.
Arsenal's midweek defeat to Watford left Wenger's side nine points behind Chelsea ahead of Saturday's lunchtime kick-off at Stamford Bridge, live on Sky Sports 1, and the Frenchman is keen to keep attention on the club's immediate future rather than whether he will be there in the long term.
"My future has always been certain. I focus 100 per cent until the last day of my contract. That is the only way you can guarantee the future," said Wenger, who recently marked 20 years in the job since taking over at the club.
"We worry about tomorrow [Saturday]. Tomorrow is not in the summer. It is tomorrow.
"They [players] must not think beyond the game. They must focus on tomorrow's game."
Wenger maintains decisions over his future are "not all quantifiable" and "linked with your gut feeling as well".
"Everybody can express their frustrations in the fraction of a second and there is no time to take any distance from what happened," Wenger said.
"I focus on what I can influence. I live with the response of society. You are more the captors of what is going on in society."
Wenger said the side were "mentally not ready" for the physical challenges in their defeat against Watford, having watched from the stands as he continued to serve out a four-game touchline ban.
"I have spent the last three days thinking about that, but it's subconscious, you know, I don't think it's a lack of professionalism," he said.
"The players prepared properly. In the Premier League it is like that. No team dominates for 90 minutes without having to defend at some stage.
"But we were not ready to win the challenges. We were dominated in the duels."
Wenger added: "There is no easy game in the Premier League any more. You have to integrate that. Did the weight of the Chelsea game after come in? Maybe, in the subconscious mind."
