Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that it will be "frustrating" to miss out on a place in the top four with a final points total of 75 this season.
Manchester City secured Champions League football despite amassing just 66 points last term, but Arsenal know that even victory in their final two games of the campaign may not be enough for them to finish in the top four this time around.
The Gunners require either Liverpool or Manchester City to drop points in the final week of the season to stand any chance of sneaking into the Champions League places, but even if they do not make it Wenger insisted that he would take the Europa League seriously should he remain in charge next season.
"It will be frustrating. I still think we just have to give our best to get to 75 points and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. At least we have done our job well to the end. I would say we would be a victim of a lack of consistency that we have shown through the season. Overall, that is in a very short spell where we have paid for it," he told reporters
"We are a victim of nobody. If we make 75 points, we can only be beaten by one point. That point can happen in the season one side or the other. You will always have regrets because you could have one point more but you forget as well the games you won in the last season where you could the season after not win.
"Apart from the League Cup, where we play always the younger players to give them a chance to develop, we take all the other competition seriously. I think I play in my eighth cup final. You don't do that if you don't take competitions seriously."
In addition to needing favours from elsewhere, Arsenal must also beat Sunderland and Everton in their final two games of the season.
Barney Corkhill
