Walcott expects positive Gunners reaction

Theo Walcott maintains Arsenal have it within themselves to raise their game again when title-chasing Manchester City on Sunday.

The Gunners' seven-match winning run in the Barclays Premier League was brought to an unceremonious end with a 2-1 defeat at relegation battlers QPR on Saturday. Manager Arsene Wenger admitted his players lost duels all over the pitch, with Tottenham making the most of the opportunity to beat Swansea on Sunday and close back level on points in the battle for third place. Walcott, who scored Arsenal's equaliser at Loftus Road, is in no doubt the Gunners will be ready to show their strength of character once more this weekend, where victory could all but end City's title hopes if Manchester United extend their lead to eight points in the day's early kick-off. "I think that we can deal with pressure when it is thrown upon our shoulders," Walcott said on www.Arsenal.com. "The manager always takes it on his back, but as players we can cope with that now because we had that tough period. "We had a lot of injuries, things weren't going our way and Tottenham were 10 points ahead, but we dealt with that, we continued playing our football and completely turned it around. When people play at their full potential it makes the job so much easier. We need to learn to do this more often."