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Team of captains will finish powerfully - Wenger

Per Mertesacker will bring priceless experience to Arsenal, according to manager Arsene Wenger © Getty Images

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Arsene Wenger has backed his new signings to prove their worth when Arsenal enter crunch time in the season come the months of March and April.

Arsenal have suffered a concerning start to the campaign, already falling 12 points behind the Premier League leaders. The Gunners also find themselves eight points outside the Champions League spots and they currently boast the third worst defence in England's top flight.

However, Wenger has witnessed his side start fast and end slow in recent years, none more so than last season when their Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League dreams all died in the space of a couple of months.

Arsenal won just three of their last 15 games in all competitions, but Wenger believes the arrivals of Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta will change that. In his eyes, once his team have gelled, they will be more capable of producing in the big games later in the season.

"Sometimes we are reproached for not having enough captains in our squad, now we have plenty," Wenger said in The Times. "Overall we have more experience and this could be important if we are in a strong position should we have interesting challenges in March or April.

"I'm very happy with the signings we made and my challenge now is to prove that I made the right decisions. I'm confident that we have, but only the results will tell.

"I believe there was some anxiety around the club but I always felt in our situation that a lot would happen in the last 48 hours of the transfer window."

Wenger hopes to have Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny back for Sunday's clash with Sunderland at Emirates Stadium. However, Thomas Vermaelen is out while Tomas Rosicky faces a late fitness test on a groin injury.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.