Wilshere - First five seconds is key

Jack Wilshere says Arsenal are more determined this season and that their high-pressing game has allowed them to battle back from losing positions.

The Gunners went behind in Saturday’s clash with Manchester City, but Wilshere and Alexis Sanchez were on target in the second half to give them the lead.

Despite Martin Demichelis’s 83rd-minute equaliser, Wilshere believes Arsenal are responding better to conceding after already fighting back to rescue points against Crystal Palace and Everton.

“We wanted to work on that this season, not letting our heads go down,“ the 22-year-old said.

“We started the game fantastically and we had chances. We should have put one of them in and, against a top team like that and a top player like Aguero, all he needs is one chance and he’ll score.

“When we went in at half-time it was a bit like the Everton game - we said keep going, keep going, we’ll get one goal and we did. Once we were 2-1 up we should’ve won it. We should’ve been smarter, but at the same time we showed great character to come back.

“We had it [determination] last season but this season we’re forcing it a bit. We’re not accepting it, we’re not just letting them play when we lose the ball, we want to win it back.

“That first five seconds is important - we want to win the ball back in a dangerous position. You saw it with the first goal, we won it high up the pitch. Once we get behind the midfield with runners, teams can’t live with us.”

Wilshere admitted Arsenal didn’t respond as well to going a goal down last season, but insisted the Gunners have learnt from their mistakes.

“Towards the end of last season when it looked like we weren’t going to get in the top four we said, ‘listen, this is not good enough’," he said.

"But since the last seven or eight games of last season to now we’ve had a fantastic attitude. Everyone in training is buying into the defensive side of the game - we want to improve that, winning the ball back high up. Our quality is on show."