Almunia - We need to find the perfect balance

Manuel Almunia has been as frustrated as anyone by Arsenal's failure to find the net in their recent Premier League games - but he is happy with how things are going at the other end of the pitch.

The Spanish goalkeeper has contributed to a run of five consecutive shut-outs, a far cry from the opening months of the season when Arsenal were shipping goals on a more regular basis.

Now Almunia hopes Arsenal can find the perfect balance of goals and clean sheets as the Premier League campaign reaches a vital stage.

"It’s the only good thing that we can see from these kind of games [Sunderland] when we are dropping points, we are still getting clean sheets," he told the Official Arsenal Programme. "I think the team in general defensively are doing very well.

"We now need to find that nice balance where we are tight at the back but get the goals. It’s what a team like Manchester United has been so successful with this season, they have always been getting the clean sheet and then just managing to get the goal. They have the confidence to get that minimum one goal. We have to get that confidence back.

"Before we probably used to create a few more chances and also we would finish those chances quicker. Now we are spending a bit more time to get a final shot. The players realise that the fans deserve more from us and maybe some of the players are feeling more pressure at the moment at home because we are not winning games.

"I know the fans deserve more from the team than 0-0 scores."