Midfielder Jack Wilshere has admitted that Arsenal needed to maintain their "momentum" heading into their Europa League tie with CSKA Moscow.
On Sunday, Arsenal were below their best against Stoke City before netting three second-half goals to see off the Potters in the Premier League fixture at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have now won four games in a row in all competitions, and Wilshere says that the club's recent run of results have been important ahead of the closing stages of the season.
The 26-year-old is quoted by the London Evening Standard as saying: "It's a big game. We needed that 90 minutes out of the way. We needed to get the three points, move on and keep the momentum going.
"We've won a few in a row and wanted to keep that going. Now we've got a big one on Thursday and we're ready for that."
Wilshere has featured in nine of Arsenal's 10 games in the Europa League this season.
