Declan Rice believes Arsenal’s draw at Brentford could prove “valuable” as he challenged his team-mates to “stick together” in their Premier League title chase.
Arsenal were unable to restore a six-point advantage over rivals Manchester City after Noni Madueke’s opener in west London was cancelled out by Keane Lewis-Potter.
Mikel Arteta’s side were below their best for much of the contest and struggled to create chances against an impressive Brentford.
But despite dropping two points, Arsenal remain in control of their own destiny as they bid to land a first title in 22 years.
And Rice said: “We weren’t naive to think that this match was going to be a pushover.
“They’re an amazing team, they’re seventh in the league, and Keith Andrews has got them playing really, really well.
“It might be a valuable point towards the end. The only thing we can do is just keep worrying about ourselves.
“We’ve been on an amazing run, the performances have been incredible, and if you look at the amount of games we’ve played and how many we’ve won, we’ve lost three in all competitions all season.
“So let’s take the positives, keep going, keep pushing, keep sticking together. Everyone’s needed on this road to the end. There’s a long way to go, but we’re positive.
“We really wanted to win, but we have to take the point and move forward.”
Rice is likely to be rested for Arsenal’s FA Cup fourth-round clash against League One Wigan at the Emirates on Sunday.
The cup clash will present Arteta with the chance to rotate his side with league trips to Wolves and Tottenham to follow next week.
And asked if a break from the pressures of the Premier League could be good for his players, the Spaniard replied: “We are doing that every week. Every three days we are playing in different competitions, so we are so used to it.
“We will reflect on the game (against Brentford), take the positives, the learnings, what we have to improve, and go on Sunday again with the energy and the batteries fully charged to win the game.
“We’ve been trying to make sure that everybody is a big part of what we are doing in different competitions, and Sunday will be the same.
“The history that we have with the FA Cup is amazing. We play at home, and I’m really excited to recover and go again.”
