Cape Town - Arsenal's double comeback against Manchester City on Sunday was inspired by knowing that Tottenham Spur position is ripe for the taking, says Jack Wilshere.
The Gunners managed two equalisers against City in Sunday's crucial battle for third position, with the point they earned putting them within three of leapfrogging bitter rivals Spurs into second, thus proving which team rules north London.
“We all knew the Spurs result [before the City game] and of course that motivates us,” the midfielder, who came on as a 24th-minute substitute for the injured Danny Welbeck, told Standard Sport.
“We want to finish above them and show we are the best team in north London. We expect to win our home games so hopefully Newcastle can do us a favour.
“I saw about 10 minutes of the first half and when I turned it off it was 1-1. Obviously, then you are checking your phone in the dressing room. When we saw it finished 2-1, it gave us a real lift.
“The main thing was not to lose so it was still in our hands. After going 1-0 down and then 2-1 down, overall you would take a draw. It [Etihad Stadium] is a tough place to come and we showed good character – that’s what we can take from the game.
“There was a time in the second half when we couldn’t really get out of our half and they then went 2-1 up. We slowly got back into it and hit them on the break a couple of times which made them drop off a little bit. We equalised and maybe if we’d taken another chance, we might have nicked it.”