Robin Van Persie today challenged his Arsenal team-mates to prove they have the mental strength to win the Premier League.

The Dutchman scored his sixth goal of the season on Saturday as the Gunners came from behind to beat Everton 3-1 at Emirates Stadium and Van Persie said: "How we came back was fantastic because it was really tough.

"At this time in football, the mental aspect is really important, maybe more than 30 or 40 per cent. If you look at the games we play, like against Bolton and Blackburn, the mental aspect is more important than the way we want to play.

"I do not think it is a real big problem for us, but every single time we have to prove it again.

"Last season we played fantastic for three-quarters of the season and then suddenly everything fell down.

"I do not know if the reason is mentally, maybe it was a bit of everything, but we learned a lot from last year as well."

"The season is long, we lost some points, but we won some as well so we just have to stay positive."

Arsenal have already lost two League matches this season against Fulham and Hull and with games against Chelsea and Manchester United to come next month, Van Persie admitted: "The whole squad realise [the need to stay positive] because we still have to play against the big teams and lots of big tests for us are on the way."