Theo Walcott insists Arsenal won't crumble after a slow down in results.

Walcott denied Arsenal's season is now in decline and accused Chelsea of playing boring football to stop his side going top of the Premier League.

He told the London Evening Standard: "Going into Christmas joint top is not a sign of us faltering. It's a very competitive League this year, a lot of teams have got much better.

"Every game is very difficult but going in joint top on Christmas Day, we're very pleased. We need to work hard now to forget about the 36 points we have at the moment and get another three against West Ham on Boxing Day.

"We need to start getting the wins again, we haven't won for a few matches now. But we're still up there and showing strength. We just have to get back to our best. It's important not to lose at this time of year, especially against one of the top teams as well. It's so close, you can't really call it this year and it will go right down to the wire.

"It will be a good battle against West Ham. They had a good result against Tottenham in the Capital One Cup so we have to make sure we're ready."