Arsenal must go back to basics, warns Wenger

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The Gunners saw United extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points after coming from behind to win at West Ham in Saturday's early kick-off, while Wenger's side could not manage to beat 10-man Blackburn in the late game.

Next weekend will also see the top two have staggered matches, with United hosting Fulham 24 hours before Arsenal are at Blackpool.

Indeed, Wenger's side have now played their last Saturday fixture of the season, and will tackle United in an encounter which will have a massive influence on the final destination of the Premier League crown at Emirates Stadium on May 1.

While the Frenchman believes such scheduling - done both for television and to accommodate the FA Cup dates at Wembley - is part and parcel of the game, he feels it can have an impact.

"There are a lot of things going on which I don't want to talk about," Wenger said. "I have been here for 15 years, I know how things work.

"I want to be completely neutral, like I have to be. I am not involved in any decision. I do not do the schedule.

"I look when do we play? It is on Sunday until the end of the season. But I do not want to speak about anything else like we look for an excuse about our performance.

"We have not been good enough, which is the main information of the Blackburn game, and we have to worry about being better in our next game.

"I have no influence on the fixtures, the referees, not on anything else here."

Wenger added: "I don't think the players did not want it against Blackburn, we were just one-paced, and that is not our game.

"You get your belief through your attitude, and of course we have been shocked by what has happened. That is why we have to put even more effort in.

"We had nothing in the tank to produce a change of pace. We looked very predictable, and usually we are not.

"Now we want to focus on our next game and show we are good enough."

Unlike United, who head to Chelsea for their all British Champions League quarter-final clash, Arsenal will not have any distractions of European football to get in the way of preparations for the trip to Blackpool.

"We have the players available for the whole week and what is important is we work on our basics and come back to what we are strong at," Wenger said.