ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has admitted he is surprised by the rate at which his team have forced their way back into the title reckoning.

The Gunners found themselves 11 points behind leaders Chelsea after they were defeated 3-0 at the Emirates by the Blues last month.

But the complexion of the title race has changed significantly in the four weeks since that result, with Arsenal taking 13 points from a possible 15, while Chelsea have won just once in their last five league matches, and second-placed Manchester United have lost twice in the same period.

All that means the Emirates outfit are just two points behind United and four behind Chelsea but, crucially, they still have a game I hand over both of them.

And Wenger has been pleasantly surprised by the turnaround.

"Yes [I am surprised], because I could say we would win the games but you couldn’t predict that our opponents would drop so many points," he said.

"After the Chelsea game I said openly that Chelsea would drop points on the basis of what I had seen. And they did. But how many they would drop I didn’t know.

"It makes the title race interesting now. We are in a strong position. We can have belief but there is a long way to go and we have to keep our feet on the ground and continue to improve together."