Mikel Arteta has insisted that fatigue cannot be used as an excuse as he called on Arsenal F.C. to respond strongly and finish the job against Sporting Lisbon in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Arsenal return to home soil on Wednesday holding a 1-0 advantage from last week’s first leg in Lisbon, with a place in the semi-finals for a second consecutive season within reach.

However, the Gunners arrive at the tie amid a difficult run of form, having lost three of their last four matches in all competitions.

That slump has seen them miss out on potential silverware, with Manchester City beating them 2-0 in the League Cup final and Southampton knocking them out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage.

The situation was further compounded by a 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend, a result that has put pressure on their Premier League title hopes.

Arsenal are now just six points ahead of Manchester City, who also have a game in hand, ahead of a crucial showdown between the two sides this weekend.

Arteta has stressed the importance of focus and mentality as his side prepare for a defining period in their season.

There is debate over whether Mikel Arteta will name his strongest Arsenal F.C. side to ensure they recover momentum by beating Sporting Lisbon, or whether he will rotate his squad with Saturday’s trip to Manchester City in mind, relying on squad depth to get the job done.

The fixture will be Arsenal’s 54th of the season, underlining a demanding schedule that may be starting to take its toll on the squad.

Injuries have also been a recurring issue throughout the campaign, with key players such as Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber all having spent time sidelined, while several others appeared fatigued in the recent defeat to Bournemouth.

Asked whether tiredness had contributed to their dip in form, Arteta rejected the idea of excuses but acknowledged the challenge of the relentless schedule.

“I don’t want to pull on those excuses because we’ve been playing so many games, every three days, and we’re going to have to continue to do that,” he said.

“That’s the context and that’s the scenario, and we have to embrace it and especially enjoy the opportunity.

“That’s one of the things that I didn’t see from the team, that level of enjoyment in certain moments and the fight that we have to have to really change the course of the game when it gets difficult.

“We’re going to have different contexts from here to June, and we need to be able to adapt and resolve all of them, if we want to achieve what we want to achieve.”

Viktor Gyökeres was one of the few Arsenal players to come away from the defeat against Bournemouth with any real credit.

The Sweden international converted a first-half penalty, bringing his season tally to 18 goals, and continues to show encouraging signs after a slow start to his first campaign with the Gunners.

However, Gyökeres was largely quiet on his return to his former club, Sporting CP, during the first-leg encounter.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be looking for a way to ensure the striker’s strength and clinical finishing become key weapons in the club’s push for a first-ever Champions League title.

Speaking after the match, Gyökeres said: “We have a lot of important games ahead, and we need to embrace it and enjoy playing them.

“It’s a great game coming up in a few days, so we just need to recover now, put this behind us and deliver a strong performance on Wednesday.”