22 sport Tuesday, February 2, 2010 D SOCCER PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal still in the hunt, insists Cesc CesC Fabregas believes arsenal can prove their doubters wrong and get themselves back into the Premier League title race. The gunners captain is taking a posi- tive approach despite a devastating 3-1 home defeat at the hands of rivals Manchester United on sunday. It was the second time this season arseneWengers young side have found themselves wanting in a clash against their direct title rivals, with Chelsea sealing a comfortable 3-0 victory at the end of November. That ended a ten-match unbeat- en run during which arsenal had hauled themselves back into contention for the title. but if Chelsea beat Hull at the KC stadium tonight then arsenal will be eight points adrift of the league leaders as they prepare to head to stamford bridge on sunday. Many have already written off the gunners chances of landing a first championship since 2004, while russia striker andrey arshavin admits it is getting even harder to believe in the wake of another crushing defeat. Fabregas, though, maintains all is not yet lost. We have to be positive, said the arsenal skipper. If you dont believe, you dont win things. We want to believe we are still there I am always realistic and I am not going to lie to myself or to anyone. It is going to be difficult but no one said it is going to be easy. We just have to be strong and see what happens next week. Team-mate arshavin, however, is less convinced. It is getting even harder to believe that we can win first place after such defeats, he said. I divide the games with aston Villa, Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool into two parts the first part has been held, there are still two more games. I hope we will conduct them better. By Simon Kay ...but Arshavin doubts title chances Im always realistic its going to be very difficult Reina: Our pride is at stake JOSE REINA has admitted Liverpools pride has been hurt by their disappointing season so far. The Spain goalkeeper has helped his side pick up recently as they embarked on a six-match unbeaten Premier League run which has seen them concede just once. However, they are out of the Champions League and FA Cup and 13 points behind league leaders Chelsea. Reina said: It is about pride. We knew we were not in the right situation. This club is bigger than that and we had to think about the fact we were not doing as well as we could. Reina also hopes boss Rafael Benitez will stay at Anfield next season, adding: He brought me here that says it all. There is no point talking about his future. We just play football.Positive: Reina Now Fergie gets the hairdryer treatment HE is of course well known for dishing out the infamous hairdryer treatment whenever his multi-million pound superstar players dare to underperform. But yesterday it was Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson who was on the receiving end of a hot blast. Fergies locks were given a quick blow dry by students during a visit to the hairdressing department of his former school, Govan High, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. And still clearly beaming a day after his side proved to be head and shoulders above title rivals Arsenal in an emphatic 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium, the Old Trafford supremo met some of his old school friends and talked to an assembly of the current pupils. Arsenal next weekend face table-toppers Chelsea and aptly, Fergie admits: We will be rooting for Arsenal. We need Chelsea to drop points. Picture:PA index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html