The Gunners moved three points ahead of Manchester City at the summit with a 1-0 victory at Newcastle on Saturday (26.04.26) and the midfielder is targeting a perfect record in the team's four remaining matches as they seek a first league crown since 2004.

Rice said: "That’s what it’s been all season and that’s what we want it to be towards the end of the season – staying top, staying positive.

"There are four games to go and that’s what we want to do, keep winning more matches and we’re going to be ready for that.

"The three points (against Newcastle) were massive. After the week we had against Manchester City, we knew with five games left, we have to win all five.

"To tick that one off was a real boost, so we’re really, really happy with the win."

Arsenal will put their Premier League title push to one side this week when they take on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday (29.04.26) and Rice has urged his team-mates to embrace the formidable task of trying to reach next month's Budapest showpiece.

The England international said: "We’ve played in tough games in the last three or four years at the highest level, so we know what to expect and what’s to come.

"We’re Champions League semi-finalists, let’s embrace it, enjoy it and bring it on.

"To be honest, you don’t think about it too much because you can’t be thinking about the future when you’ve got games like the one against Newcastle.

"Obviously now I can focus on Atletico, but you can’t get too caught up with what’s to come, it just takes up too much of your energy. You need to focus on what we can control in the next game.

"Now we focus on Atletico. We’ve got to keep going and be ready for what’s to come."