Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal will need something special to catch Premier League leaders Chelsea.

The Gunners defeated West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on Boxing Day to bounce back from two straight losses.

The result means the North Londoners are still nine points behind their local rivals after 18 matches but there is still hope in the title race if Arsenal can continue to show a strong resilience, according to Wenger.

Asked if Arsenal have a stronger backbone this season, Wenger said: "Maybe, yes.

"I feel yes because it's normal that I tell you yes, but we have to show that for the whole season to maintain that kind of resilience you know.

"At the moment there is quite a big distance between us and Chelsea and we need a special resilience to come back, but I hope that the other teams will have as well their moments of weakness and we can only take advantage of it if we continue like that."