Robin Van Persie does not want Arsenal to hide behind the excuses of an injury and suspension-hit squad.
Arsenal captain wants response against Swansea
Robin Van Persie does not want Arsenal to hide behind the excuses of an injury and suspension-hit squad amid the ongoing crisis at Emirates Stadium.
Arsene Wenger has been forced to reject suggestions he will resign in the wake of Sunday's 8-2 pummelling at Manchester United, which has capped a wretched few months.
Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri have left and no immediate replacements have been bought, much to the fury of some fans who have had to endure a six-year trophy drought.
The deficiencies in Arsenal's squad were highlighted at Old Trafford, where Francis Coquelin had to make his Premier League debut in the absence of the banned Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong.
Summer signing Gervinho was also suspended, while Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby and Kieran Gibbs were absent through illness or injury.
But captain Van Persie was not hiding from the humiliating display against United and wants a response against Swansea after the international break, as he told
Arsenal Player: "We need to come back.
Positive
"We have Swansea in two weeks, which is a good opponent and I look forward to that.
"This was the strongest team we had today (Sunday). We gave our maximum but it was clearly not good enough.
"I don't think we can hide behind injuries or suspensions. It is no excuse. They had injuries too, this is football."
Van Persie also gave credit to the travelling fans who continued to back their team at Old Trafford.
"The fans were great," he said. "That is one really positive thing. They were cheering us up all game for 90 minutes. We really appreciate that.
"Sometimes you see fans leaving early but I did not see that. When we went to the fans to thank them after the game, it looked like every seat was still full.
"That was a good feeling. I love that. It really cheered us up."
