Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny pleas for unity after damaging loss to Brighton

Laurent Koscielny has called for unity among Arsenal’s players and supporters after speculation over manager Arsene Wenger’s position escalated in the wake of a damaging defeat at Brighton.

A loud chant of “we want Wenger out” emanated from the away end during an abject first half in which Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray put Brighton two goals up before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang halved the deficit.

Arsenal improved after the restart but were unable to prevent a 2-1 loss, their eighth Premier League reverse on the road this season. A ‘Wenger Out’ banner was displayed in the away end at full-time as Arsenal slipped 13 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.

Their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League now appear to rest on winning the Europa League.

Ahead of their last-16, first-leg tie against AC Milan on Thursday, Koscielny said: “It will be very hard to finish in the top four. We have a bad period and did not have the results we wanted.

“We lost our confidence a little bit and on the pitch we didn’t have the confidence we need to push ourselves more and to play well with the ball.

“We missed a lot of passes but we need to stay together, to fight together. It is a big period for us. We know it is difficult but you need to put your head down and work every day.

“We need to win to have more freedom on the pitch and we need to stay together because it is a bad period but all the players, staff and fans need to know that we are all together. It is important to have everyone behind us.”

Arsenal had 68 per cent of the possession at the Amex Stadium, with seven shots on target to the hosts’ six, but did not create enough to test goalkeeper Mathew Ryan aside from a late chance for Aubameyang.

Wenger has a contract until 2019 but the board at Arsenal are under mounting pressure to make a change, and Koscielny admits the situation is the worst he has known in his eight years at the club.

Asked if he had experienced a week as bad as this before, the 32-year-old said: “No, no. I think it has been difficult for everyone, maybe the first time for all of them.

“We try on the pitch to play but we can feel the players aren’t this confident to be efficient on the pitch.

“We need to get back, train hard, work hard and then the results can come back and give us more confidence for the rest of the season.”