Wenger wants Arsenal to turn Emirates into fortress

Arsene Wenger has challenged his Arsenal players to turn their Emirates Stadium into a fortress as the Gunners bid to keep their title charge on track.

Wenger’s side have lost their last two home league matches against Tottenham and Newcastle and the Arsenal manager knows his side must reverse that run against Fulham on Saturday, even though they will be without injured captain Cesc Fabregas.

The Spain midfielder will be sidelined for another two weeks with the hamstring injury he suffered against Braga in the Champions League but Sami Nasri and Sebastien Squillaci are both fit.

And while goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is still unavailable after suffering a minor setback to his elbow injury in training, Wenger is confident his side will return to winning ways at home.

“Our away form got us in a good position in the table but of course we want our home form from now to take off. If we can combine the two we have a good chance and that is our target,” Wenger said on Friday.

“Let’s focus on playing well. Psychologically, we won on Tuesday against Wigan in the League Cup and we won the game before at Aston Villa, so it will be down to the quality of our performance.”

Meanwhile, Wenger confirmed he had no intentions of buying in the January transfer window.

He also insisted he wasn’t disappointed that Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, a transfer target for the Gunners earlier this year, has signed a new two-year deal with Fulham because he has confidence in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

He said: “I always had (confidence) and I have even more now. He has shown in the last two months that he has the quality to play for Arsenal. At the moment we are not in the market.”

With leaders Manchester United out of action due to the postponement of their clash with Blackpool, Wenger’s team could go top this weekend if they beat Fulham and Chelsea slip up against Everton.

But the French coach claims the title race is wide open and as many as seven clubs realistically are in the race for the title.

He believes the draining demands of playing in the Champions League and the general improvement in quality in the division are the reasons why no single club has dominated this season.

Wenger said: “All the other teams have improved certainly. It is difficult at the moment to have a real consistency.

“Manchester United have been the most consistent but they have won less games so they couldn’t get away from anybody else.

“Maybe it’s down to the fact that the teams who play in the Champions League do not always manage to win after that. As well, the teams in the middle of the table have become much stronger.”