Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal’s collapse at Wolves was a “shock in the system” but he insists his players are not 'bottling' the Premier League title race.

The surprising result on Wednesday meant the gap to Manchester City extended to just five points, having played a game more than their title rivals.

It was the first time a team at the top of the Premier League had dropped a two-goal lead to a side in the relegation zone, and the emotions from the players, but also the fans, at full-time were telling.

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“The immediate reaction is tough,” he said. “You know, you put so much, you look at the first half, and actually, what happened in the game.

“And it was very… [watching] post-match as well, about the standards that we showed, it was much better than expected. But it's still not enough to the standards that we required. Very difficult to understand.

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“So it is a shock in the system. But [the fans have] been incredibly good with that, and yeah, we wanted to give them the victory. We couldn't, and we have to move on.”

Certainly, the discussion itself has not moved on, with many suggesting this Arsenal team is on course to “bottle” the league once again.

Arteta denied this word even being part of his vocabulary, but admitted that he has to respect that everyone will have opinions, after making it clear post-match any criticism would have to be accepted.

“That's individual opinion, perspective,” he replied. “You have to respect that.

“I mean, that's what I said after the press conference. You lose two points against Wolves in the manner that the game played out, you have to take it in the chin. That's it. It's part of our role.”

Asked to define what “bottlers” would mean to him, he was quick to bat away the query, clearly not wanting any association of the word circling further around him and his team.

“It's not part of my vocabulary, and I don't see it like this because I don't think anybody wants to do that as an intention. I wouldn't use that word, but that's me.”

Instead, Arteta said he has given his side “the truth” and pointed to the balance between meeting the demand he has for his players and the level of support needed to match it.

“It’s not what I try to give them, it’s what they need. They need the truth. There is a really important diagram, the level of support and the demands you put on them.

“If you want the demands to be really, really high, the support [has to be] as well. Or it doesn’t work. Believe me, the demands are super high. They know. They have known for a long time. It’s not going to be an issue.”

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