Per Mertesacker has claimed that it was important for Arsenal to find top form ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final against Hull City.

Despite dropping out of the title race in the second half of their Premier League campaign, five straight wins to finish the season means that the Gunners head to Wembley full of confidence as they look to end a nine-year trophy drought.

"It would mean a lot, that would be a big step for our team," Mertesacker told reporters. "We went through a lot of difficulties.

"We were top of the league, then we dropped points and then came back to fourth position. We want to keep our run now.

"We won five consecutive games, we want to continue with that Saturday. That is really important. It looks like we are back on track. We have to keep our focus."

Hull failed to win any of their final five games of the league season.