Cesc Fabregas insists Arsenal can still challenge for the Premier League title despite their comprehensive 3-1 home defeat to rivals Manchester United. It was the second time this season Arsene Wenger's side has come up short in a clash against their direct title rivals, with Chelsea recording a comfortable 3-0 victory at the end of November.
If the Blues beat Hull in their re-arranged midweek fixture then Arsenal will again be eight points adrift of the league leaders as they prepare to head to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Fabregas still maintains all is not yet lost.
"We have to be positive," the Arsenal captain said.
"It is very easy to say we lost to Manchester United and let our heads go down.
"We have to be strong, be together more than ever and do our best until the end of the season."
The 21 year old added: "With all my respect, I really do not care what people think about us. It is about what we believe up until the end of the season.
"People are not going to play for us and it is up to us to show what we can do.
"People watch the football and enjoy it, but we must do our talking on the pitch."
Fabregas, though, knows Arsenal face a tough challenge.
"If you don't believe, you don't win things. We want to believe we are still there - I am always realistic and I am not going to lie to myself or to anyone. We know it is very difficult," the Spain international said.
"Chelsea were better than us, Manchester United have been better than us so it something we have to think about to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"It is going to be difficult definitely, but no-one said it is going to be easy.
"We just have to be strong and see what happens next week."
Fabregas added: "Chelsea is never a good game to have, even if you are eight points clear or eight points behind. They are a strong side, they have been playing together for a long time.
"We have to beat them to stay in the title race.
"We started losing there last season, but we scored twice.
"That means in football it is so difficult to predict what is going to happen.
"So let's be positive and see if we can get a result there."
