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Wenger says Arsenal are determined to beat Blues

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned Jose Mourinho that his side are out to kill off Chelsea's fading hopes of retaining the Premiership.

Mourinho's team will have to win at the Emirates Stadium next weekend to have any hope of overhauling leaders Manchester United.

The Gunners have little to play for as they have already secured the top four finish that guarantees entry into next season's Champions League, so Mourinho may have thought he could take advantage of under-motivated opponents in north London.

But, speaking after his side's dramatic 3-1 win over relegation-threatened Fulham on Sunday, Wenger insisted there was no chance of Arsenal taking it easy.

"We have a responsibility to the rest of the league," he said. "We have to be fair to the other teams at the bottom. If we were fighting not to go down I wouldn't like to see a team go to Manchester United and take points because they don't care."

"Next week we have the same responsibility at the top. It is a bit more exciting and we will go for it a bit more," he said.

"There will be more at stake, prestige-wise. It is a good game to play because it is a good opportunity to show we are strong for next season and able to fight with Chelsea and Manchester United, who are quite ahead of us this season," Wenger said.

Wenger knows Arsenal will have to be far more alert than they were against Fulham, who were unlucky not to snatch a crucial point after a stirring second half fightback.

Julio Baptista had given Arsenal a fourth minute lead when he headed in Emmanuel Adebayor's cross. Arsenal then reverted to type as they squandered a series of chances to kill off the visitors and were made to pay in the 78th minute.

Jens Lehmann made a complete hash of his punch as he challenged Heidar Helguson for a deep cross and the ball fell to Simon Daives, who looped his shot over Kolo Toure and into the net.

Lawrie Sanchez's side were just six minutes away from a draw that would have boosted their survival bid, but Adebayor broke their hearts when he surged onto Cesc Fabregas's pass and curled a superb shot past Antti Niemi.

Gilberto Silva rubbed salt into their wounds when he converted an 87th minute penalty after Moritz Volz had brought down Alexander Hleb.

Wenger is keen to appoint an English director of soccer to help him with transfers following the departure of vice-chairman David Dein and he admitted he has already been inundated with applications.

"I am not in a hurry to do it but I will meet a few people and make a decision in the summer," he said. "I have had more applications than you can imagine."

Fulham face a nervous finale as they try to scrape the points they need to beat the drop in their final two matches. They are just a point above the relegation zone and look to be in free fall.
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