Adebayor: "Forget pretty football"

Throughout all Arsenal's turmoil so far this season, they've continued to play good football. Many questions have been asked of the Gunners' mentality, but few have slammed them for bringing quality to the majority of their matches.

However, their penchant for sexy football has seriously hampered their title bid, which has hung by a thread for weeks now.

Now, even flamboyant forward Emmanuel Adebayor wants the gloves to come off and for his teammates to show the kind of grit that can haul them back into contention.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal's final Champions League group game at Porto, he said: "We are eight points behind first place and now we just have to control ourselves, not to worry about whether we play with elegance or not.

"The most important thing is not the way we play, it's what we are going to achieve.

"Now we have to forget about how we are going to dribble, how many passes we are going to make - the most important thing is to get the ball in the back of the net and that is it."

Generally the North London side have fared better against their Big Four rivals that the Premier League also-rans, but Togolese star Ade knows there's no more margin for error, regardless of the opposition.

He noted: "We have to fight as a team and that is how we are going to try to achieve something this season.

"To be champions, you need to win every single game."

Arsenal, however, are at least already through to the knockout stages of the Champions League.