Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger does not believe that his side will be able to challenge for the Premier League title due to Chelsea having a healthy lead at the top of the table.
Earlier Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had suggested that the Arsenal were one of the Blues' main title rival's this season following their recent run of good form.
However, Wenger has played down Mourinho's suggestions, insisting that Chelsea's are too far ahead at the top of the Premier League table and a push for a second place finish would be more realistic.
"We would love to be in it [the title race], but at the moment we are too far away from Chelsea," said Wenger, according to ESPN. "Every week we have a chance to get closer."
Chelsea are currently seven points ahead of Arsenal with a extra game in hand (an away fixture against the bottom placed Leicester City).
And the Frenchman admits that the Gunners will only be able to catch the Blues if they start dropping points in this final stretch of the season.
"We need positive results and negative results from Chelsea because, at the moment, they have a very good cushion and very good security. What we can master is positive results from us."
"They [Chelsea] still have a game in hand and they are too far away at the moment. They suffered a little in the first half [of a 1-1 draw against Southampton last Sunday], but in the second half they could have won the game."
Although Arsenal are only a point behind the second placed Manchester City, the difference in points between themselves Manchester United, Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur is not much.
And Wenger admits that the race for a top four place in the Premier League this season still has plenty of twists and turns left.
"It is very tight," he added. "We are on the neck of Man City, and straight behind us we have Manchester United, Liverpool... even Tottenham and Southampton are not completely out of it."
The former AS Monaco boss feels that now the Gunners' performances in their remaining nine fixtures will determine how they finish in the Premier League this season.
"It's down to our performances between now and the end of the season. I do not sit and think second is good. I look at what is the best possible team to win this game at Newcastle."
