Kieran Tierney has insisted that Arsenal are not getting too far ahead of themselves in the race to qualify for the Champions League next season amid their fine recent run of form.
The Scotland international scored as the Gunners cemented their place inside the Premier League's top four with a 5-0 victory over Norwich at Carrow Road on Boxing Day.
Mikel Arteta's side were able to open up a six-point gap over fifth-placed Tottenham with the win, although Antonio Conte's side, as well as fellow challengers West Ham and Manchester United, do currently have games in hand after seeing fixtures called off due to COVID.
With this in mind, Tierney has fired a warning to his teammates not to lose sight of what's to come as Arsenal look to qualify for Europe's elite competition for the first time in five years.
"It’s obviously what every Arsenal fan, player and staff wants, but there is a long way to go," the 24-year-old said.
"We can’t get too ahead of ourselves yet. There are big games coming up and there are a lot of games coming, so there’s still a long way [to go]."
Having seen their game against Wolves suspended, the Gunners now head into a tough run of fixtures that sees them play Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs within the space of five matches.
However, after netting an impressive 19 goals in their last five matches, Tierney believes Arsenal have a good chance of standing up to what will be a testing month in January.
"That’s the aim," he said when asked about competing with the big teams. "We want to be the best we can every day and we are building to there.
"I think people can see over the last few months that we are getting better. We are getting more consistent. We are scoring more goals as well, so we just need to keep going in that direction."
Among the stars of Arsenal's recent brilliant attacking displays have been youngsters Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard.
Tierney is only 24-years-old himself, but has stated that the group's growth together will help them be a force in years to come.
"We have got a very young team and it’s brilliant to see," the Scottish left-back said. "Hopefully for years to come we are all playing together and growing together. I think you can see that over the last year or so."
For the here and now though Arsenal are on the lookout to improve their squad to help them cement their Champions League push.
football.london understands that Ainsley Maitland-Niles is in talks with Roma over a potential loan move which could open up a space in Arteta's squad for a new midfielder when the January transfer window opens next month.
Speaking to the press ahead of the game against Norwich, the Spaniard revealed that he was optimistic about the Gunners' chances of adding even more quality to their already talented group.
“If you can tweak what you need to in that period, which is not easy, it would be really helpful,” the 39-year-old said. “We are working on that to see the necessities we can have, and whether we can find the right solutions to that.”
