Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted that his side have not been good enough during their recent spell of poor form.
The Gunners had lost seven of 12 matches across all competitions heading into this evening's meeting with relegation-threatened Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, including their last four away league games on the bounce.
However, a 2-1 win over Boro was enough to lift Arsenal back up to sixth in the Premier League table, and Oxlade-Chamberlain was especially pleased with how the team adapted to an unfamiliar 3-4-3 formation.
"We have not been good enough, we need to take responsibility for that and today we had to win," he told Sky Sports News.
"We had to get back to basics, it's a massive honour to play for a team like Arsenal, you have to give 100% and maybe that's been slipping recently.
"The formation was something new, a change, but we adapted well to it. It worked well in the first half especially."
Arsenal will now turn their attention to an FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City next weekend.
Barney Corkhill
