Wenger says Arsenal survive hell

Hell for Arsenal in the last month has been a struggle to retain their hopes of a Champions League berth next season while the other clubs in England's Big Four reached this season's semi-finals.

"Sometimes you have to...go down a little bit, to flirt with the hell, to see how much you can deal with that to come up and be stronger," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told reporters.

A 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday ended a run of four games without victory for Arsenal, Champions League runners-up a year ago, and tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League and a Champions League berth.

Bolton manager Sam Allardyce conceded after the defeat at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium that the fight was over. "I think we can say the Champions League has gone," he said. Wenger was more cautious, however, telling reporters his side were not there yet.

"Not completely but it's a bit step," Wenger said. "With a game in hand, of course we want to focus now on our next game. To lose the game today would have put us in a bad situation."

Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool charged into the semi-finals during the week. Arsenal were eliminated in the first knockout round by PSV Eindhoven last month after losing the League Cup final to Chelsea in February.

Wenger said he was pleased at how his young side, now five points clear of fifth-placed Bolton, had overcome their poor run when they scored only once in four games including defeats on Merseyside by Everton (1-0) and Liverpool (4-1).

"Last week we were in a bad situation, losing here (1-0 to West Ham United) and going to Newcastle (0-0), and having to play Bolton of course," he said.

"I feel we had a disappointing three or four weeks and...I'm very proud of how the team responded and I respect a lot what they did, the way they behaved in the last few weeks, even if they were the most painful few weeks of the season. "Unfortunately, you go very quickly to hell and very slowly to heaven."