MIKEL Arteta is “100 per cent” confident that his Arsenal players are ready to fight for the Premier League title until the final whistle.

The Gunners have just three games left, starting this Saturday lunchtime when AFC Bournemouth visit the Emirates Stadium. That will be followed by a trip to Manchester United on the penultimate weekend of the season, before the north Londoners end their campaign at home against Everton.

Arteta knows that only perfection from here on in will do, and even then Arsenal still have to hope that Manchester City will drop points somewhere along the way.

Cutting a confident figure that his charges can handle the run-in better than they did last year, the Arsenal boss said: “I think so, when you win it is always the case. Last year we didn’t – we went to West Ham and we needed a result and we missed a penalty, and then against Liverpool we conceded in the 91st minute and we are not capable [of winning the title].

“The margins are so small, so we don’t get carried away. We just understand that we have to be better, and we go again against Bournemouth, which is going to be really tough.”

Quizzed on whether he can see in his players’ eyes that they’re going to fight until the end, Arteta added: “One-hundred per cent – I have seen that the whole season and they have given me reason to believe that every single day. They have the motivation, so I am expecting that they will have a real go.”

Arteta’s squad helped the Spaniard earn his 100th Premier League win as a manager on Sunday with a 3-2 victory in the north London derby.

But Arteta admitted he didn’t quite believe in his players every kick of the way, as first a David Raya howler and then Declan Rice giving away a penalty allowed Tottenham to claw their way back from 3-0 down to move within a goal of ending Arsenal’s title challenge.

Asked if he has faith in his players, Arteta replied: “I do, but in the last few minutes I was doubting them, to be fair! They give me no reason to.”

The win over Spurs was also extra special for Bukayo Saka, who bagged his 15th league goal of the campaign to become the first Englishman to hit that total for Arsenal since Ian Wright in 1996/97.

After adding to the goal he scored against Tottenham at the Emirates earlier this season, Saka said: “It’s nice to score home and away as an Arsenal guy, we love this fixture and to score here is nice – I’m buzzing.”

Focusing forward, Saka added: “We’ve got three games to go, so we need to keep winning. It’s Bournemouth at home next, and we’re going to do what we can, focus on our game, win our games and see where it leaves us.”