Arsene Wenger has praised the "mental quality" of his Arsenal players following their win over Newcastle United at St James's Park in the Premier League this weekend.

The Gunners opened up a two-goal lead in the first half before holding on for a 2-1 victory as the home side fought back in the second half.

The manager told Arsenal's official website: "[I am pleased with] the spirit of the team and the mental quality of the players. They are outstanding guys and it's a pleasure to see how they behave and a credit to the club as well to see that quality on the behavioural front and the desire to do well.

"I was very pleased with the resilience because it shows qualities that are important such as solidarity, the fact that we refuse to give in and on that front I think we did very well.

"We're a stronger team today than we were in September and that's down to the focus of the whole club, of the whole staff and the quality of work the whole staff puts in. Let's hope we can go from strength to strength now until the end of the season."

The result keeps Arsenal third in the table, just four points behind league leaders Chelsea.