Former Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch has leapt to the defence of current boss Arsene Wenger amid calls for the coach's head.

The Frenchman is under increasing pressure to step down at the end of the season, with the Gunners having slipped 13 points off the pace in the race for Champions League football, but the man he replaced on the Arsenal hotseat has staunchly defended him.

Rioch, who left Arsenal in 1996 after one year in charge, said that Wenger's past success has earned him the right to decide when he steps down.

"Arsene Wenger has earned the right to leave Arsenal Football Club when he feels that it is the right time to call it a day," The Sun quotes Rioch as saying.

"He has been such a great ambassador for the club that he surely deserves the right to make the decision to leave his own decision.

"Arsene has done magnificently well for the Arsenal and, for me, he will most certainly leave with his head held high."

Arsenal will take on AC Milan in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie tonight, a competition that represents Wenger's only hope of silverware this term.