Petr Čech says the team are disappointed to have only picked up one point against Southampton, admitting Arsenal need to improve their performances at the start of matches.

The Gunners had to rally back yet again on Sunday, after falling behind in the first-half for what feels like the hundredth time this season.

Fortunately, they managed to get a late equaliser to at least salvage a point, but it was far from ideal in a match they really should be winning.

Cech revealed his disappointment to Arsenal.com, saying: “I think it’s still a disappointment, but we have to take a point because we were 1-0 down until the 88th minute.

“We wanted to find the equaliser but we came here to take all three points and we only have one, so we are disappointed with that. One thing that is really gutting is that we lost the game against Man United in the first 10 minutes.

petr cech v brighton

“Today we could have been 3-0 down after 10 minutes again, and I think this is something we need to improve because in this league, if you give other teams the advantage in the first five minutes, you make it far more difficult for yourselves.”

It’s a pattern Arsenal need to get themselves out of quickly, because as we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks, it’s not always possible to make a comeback when you go behind.

The Gunners may have been able to turn things round against the likes of Everton and Swansea, but Manchester United and Southampton are much more likely to hit you on the counter and punish you further.

Cech went on to talk about the importance of picking up all three points against West Ham on Wednesday: “Today, we were lucky to get a point, even if we deserved to get one in the end, because we put them under pressure.

“But we wanted all three. Today we dropped points and we need to make sure that when we go to West Ham, we get all three.”

Hopefully the Gunners can deliver ahead of a very busy festive period, as it’s not always easy to pick up points with such a heavy schedule.