Theo Walcott has revealed that he and his Arsenal teammates held a crisis meeting without manager Arsene Wenger after slipping up in their campaign for the Premier League title.

The Gunners are eight points adrift of leaders Leicester City following defeats to Manchester United and Swansea City.

Wenger's side managed to salvage a point against Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby last weekend.

Now, Walcott has revealed that Petr Cech, Per Mertesacker, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky led a dressing-room meeting in a bid to recover their season.

"We are not going to lie - we know as a unit it has been tough and we all had a good chat amongst us behind closed doors, without even any of coaches or the manager knowing about anything," The Mirror quotes Walcott as saying.

"I think it is important that as a team [to know] we have got it in us. We just have to produce it more often. I'd like to keep what was said among ourselves but it was very important. We have had a reaction from it anyway.

"The manager probably knows about it anyway - he's got ears everywhere at the club! The manager respects the players' privacy and what's happening personally amongst us all. It was a meeting to express how everyone was feeling basically and it worked."

Last night, Arsenal secured their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Hull City in their fifth-round replay.