Sagna Hopes For New Beginning As Van Persie Contract Talks Wait

Bacary Sagna is hopeful that Arsenal's 5-2 defeat over Tottenham will be the beginning of a successful run in for the north London side, as Robin van Persie admitted that he is in contract talks with the club about an extension on his current deal.

The Gunners were far from favourites to challenge Spurs in the derby on Sunday, and after going 2-0 down, all looked lost for the side that are desperately working their way back into Champions League contention.

But Sagna and van Persie were able to equalise, and as Theo Walcott and Tomas Tosicky hit their strides, Arsenal came out with a much needed win and kept their slim advantage over fifth-placed Chelsea alive.

And with tough fixtures coming up against Liverpool, AC Milan and Newcastle in the next few weeks, Sagna is hoping that the win is the turnaround Arsenal needed.

"It might be the beginning of something," he told the official Arsenal website. "We lost quite heavily at AC Milan but we promised ourselves we would keep playing even if we kept losing. That is what we did. If we didn't keep fighting then we would have lost this game.

"That is the best experience as a player and as a fan. We did the job properly in the end, although it was hard because we were 2-0 down. We had to show resources mentally to come back and we did it.

"We could not have let it go on like that. This is one of the most important games during the season. In this stadium, in this game we could not lose. We managed to play our own football, keep our heads up and score the goals for the win."

Meanwhile, Robin van Persie says he's waiting to talk with Arsenal about a new contract, and should the Gunners pick up their form and even look to challenge their 4-0 deficit to Milan in the Champions League final 16, the striker will no doubt be more encouraged to shore up his future at the Emirates.

"There have been a lot of stories, generally contradictory ones, about my contract situation recently so I'd like to make it clear," he explained.

"There's nothing complicated or sinister - the Club and I have both agreed to speak at the end of the season and see how things stand. The boss, Ivan Gazidis and I are all comfortable with it.

"I need all my focus to be on football - on captaining this team, improving every day, doing extra work on the training pitch and preparing for the very busy schedule of fixtures we have.

"If I look down the list, there's not much time to sit down and think about anything else! For me, this is a time to play football and not speak about personal things. All of my energy needs to go on getting this team where we want it to be this season."