Mikel Arteta has admitted his Arsenal side were "not good enough" in their pursuit of a first league title for nearly 20 years.
If the Gunners lose away at Nottingham Forest on Saturday evening, Manchester City will be crowned champions of the Premier League for the fifth time in six seasons. It marks a heartbreaking end to what has been a campaign that has gone above and beyond the expectations many had of Arsenal before a ball had been kicked back in August.
However, the overriding emotion emerging out of the Emirates at the moment is one of regret, as Arsenal have let slip what was once a firm grasp on the league title. The Gunners have led the way for most of the season but fell short when chasers City ramped up the pressure.
In an interview with Sky Sports, Arteta struggled to hide the disappointment he feels having come so close but now ending the season without any silverware to show for his efforts.
“I think the thing I struggle the most with is when you feel like you have let people down, disappointed someone, when you have created certain expectations and then you are not good enough to deliver."
Arsenal have been the subject of taunts in regards to 'bottling' the league title, but Arteta seemed to address that school of thought and called for perspective as his young side are on course to finish second this season.
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"But then we have to put some perspective on where we are, the team that we are competing with and we still where we are with two games to go. There a lot of things still there, at the end of the season we can probably assess what we could have done better."
The Spaniard also discussed the difficulty of the last few weeks in his press conference, as he added: "Pain is part of football - when you don’t win when you don't perform at your level, it has to hurt.
"It has to hurt the right way and you have to use that pain to become better and to find answers and solutions that can help you win more. This is what we're trying to do every single day."
Up next for Arsenal is the difficult task of a trip to the City ground, a stadium the Gunners haven't had much joy at in recent years with multiple FA Cup eliminations occurring at Forest's stomping ground.
Steve Cooper's side will be out to take a big step in the direction of Premier League survival, meaning Arsenal will have to put the anguish of the title capitulation to one side if they are to get all three points.
