Arsenal have learned to defend better since 4-0 defeat at Liverpool, says Petr Cech

Petr Cech says a better attitude towards defending has helped Arsenal recover from their humiliating 4-0 defeat against Liverpool and change the mood around the club.

Arsenal beat Brighton 2-0 at Emirates Stadium yesterday to take their League record to three wins and a draw without conceding another goal since that Anfield hammering in August.

Arsene Wenger seemed to be facing another crisis but, 35 days later, he celebrated the 21st anniversary of his appointment with a win over Brighton that moved Arsenal level with Chelsea and one point behind Tottenham.

Arsenal look a different side from the one that slipped to back-to-back defeats against Stoke and then Liverpool and Cech believes they are working harder as a team and are more organised.

“We had a difficult moment after the Liverpool game but we put a lot of work into our preparation,” said the goalkeeper. “As a team the cohesion is there, the defensive attitude and the offensive work as well. This is the way to go forward.

“Since the Liverpool game, everybody has been doing their job and the positive results have made the confidence you need. We are playing better as a team.

“We switch better in defence when we lose the ball and you can see it has been working better in recent games, even the big games we were very solid and that plays its part.”

Cech also believes Arsenal have got their fans back on side after their capitulation against Liverpool.

He said: “We said after the Liverpool game that the only way to bring everybody back on board was with our attitude and work ethic and results and performances.

“We have been doing so, especially at home, and we feel like we have won the fans back onto our side.

“Every fan has the right to show if they are not happy but as players we show the way and they support us home and away wherever we go. I think this is great to see.”

Arsenal appear to be happy going under the radar while the focus is on leaders Manchester City and Manchester United.

The Gunners have moved to fifth place going into the international break and Cech said: “We were monitoring all the Saturday games, so we needed to make sure we continued our run and kept winning in order to keep the gap the way it is.

“Unfortunately we have to be chasing so we need to make sure we win our games and if the teams ahead of us drop some points we can close the gap or get ahead of them.”

Goals from Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi gave Arsenal a routine win against Brighton.

“We expected a difficult game and it was because they were very well organised, we gave too many balls away at times and made it difficult for ourselves. But I think everybody gets the credit for digging in.

“Although we created a lot of shots and chances, at times we made a lot of mistakes. But we covered it with our work attitude and the ethic of the whole team. That helped us to get the three points.”