Gael Clichy says Arsenal's board have done well this season to tie down players to new contracts.

According to the club's latest set of financial figures released last month, 17 first-team players recently signed new long-term contracts and the 24-year-old believes such stability off the pitch has played its part in ensuring they stay in the title hunt.

"Back in 2008, we had quite a few players who were getting near to the end of their contracts and they were thinking about renegotiating with Arsenal or signing for another club," Clichy told the London Evening Standard. "This can disturb the team a little bit but this year we are all in the same boat. We want to show we can win things with young players, prove people wrong who said we were not good enough and show the supporters that they were right to be behind us for many years.

"We want to do it for the boss because the confidence he gives to the team is really amazing.

"It is just another game when we go back to Birmingham tomorrow. We know that we only have a few games left and each one is the same regardless of what happened in the past - we just have to keep winning our matches."