After their stalemate against Sunderland, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted their strikers are simply not in form.

"They tried to frustrate us and did that. We missed chances early and late in the game and we became nervous in front of goal," said the Arsenal manager.

"The attitude is very good among the players but in the final third we are not as efficient as we could be.

"Our passing is sometimes not incisive enough. Maybe the strikers are not alerted quickly enough.

"We were not quick or relaxed enough and, overall, it's difficult.

"Teams come here and play just one colossus up front and we have got to learn to cope with that."

Wenger, though, insists all is not yet lost as Arsenal seek to maintain their proud record of playing in Europe's elite competition each season for a decade.

"We are six points behind Villa, but there is still a long way to go. We are not sitting here with just three games left," said Wenger, whose side resume their European campaign at home to Roma on Tuesday night.

"Villa have difficult fixtures and we can come back. We also want to go as far as we can in the Champions League."