Mikel Arteta admits he did not expect the spirit of the Arsenal squad to be as strong as it is when he joined the club.

The Spanish midfielder has been a key player for the Gunners this season since joining from Everton last summer and after the 3-0 win over Aston Villa on Saturday, Arteta spoke of the strength and character of the club during tough times earlier in the campaign.

"To be honest I was really surprised with the spirit when I came here - even when we were down it was so good," Arteta told the club's official website.

"It is something you rely on because if you start blaming each other and shouting at each other it is not good.

"This group has always been positive, the manager has always been positive with the players and we have kept at it. We have the talent, we know we have the ability to win games and sometimes it is just about the balance in confidence. We have it all together now."

Arteta scored a brilliant free-kick in injury-time to wrap up the weekend's win, allowing the Gunners to make it seven Premier League wins in a row, and he admits that life is good at the moment.

"When you are winning, life is good and you can see that the fans are enjoying it at the moment," he added. "They deserve it as well because they were behind us when things weren't going right.

"Hopefully we can finish the season strongly because we have a group of players and staff who really mean business."

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