Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes his team can still catch fifth-placed Chelsea ahead of playing Southampton at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

While the long-serving Frenchman concedes the promised land of the top four is beyond his side now, he insists they can still catch Antonio Conte’s Blues.

Wenger, whose side take a 4-1 lead to Moscow in the second leg of their Europa League quarter final on Thursday, still has his sights set on as high a Premier League finish as possible.

He said: “There are up and downs in the Premier League. We are so far off fourth but not so far off fifth. To Chelsea, it is only five points. The focus was on this game. And Sunday is the Premier League so our focus is on that now.

“It’s not too much but five points are two games, so we must win all the games, away, at home, and Chelsea must lose. We must look at ourselves first and after we can then look at the other teams. It is more important.”

With Mark Hughes Southampton mired deep in the relegation dogfight in 18th place, three points adrift of Crystal Palace the Eagles as well as Huddersfield and Swansea will be hoping for an Arsenal win to boost their own chances of survival.

However Wenger cautioned: “Southampton are a team that have a good technical quality.

“I am quite surprised to find where they are in the league. It becomes an important game for them and for us as well because we want to continue to win football games and the best way to come out of tonight is to win again on Sunday, and the time is very short.

“The question mark for me will be who do I rest [ahead of the trip to Moscow], who do I bring in? Who recovers well? The main priority is to win the game.”