Petr Cech tells Arsenal to embrace the Europa League if they miss the top four

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Petr Cech has called on Arsenal to embrace the Europa League should they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

The Gunners must beat Everton and hope Liverpool drop points at home to relegated Middlesbrough to finish in the top four.

But Cech, who won the Europa League at his only attempt back in 2013 with Chelsea, says he and his teammates should take the tournament seriously if they do indeed end up in it next season.

"A European trophy is a European trophy," he said. "I have to say you want to have the Champions League one rather than the Europa League one but you can see more and more, big teams are treating the Europa League with respect because it is a European trophy.

"I only played in it once and was fortunate in one go to have won it. But obviously I would rather be in the Champions League, that's for sure. Let's see what will happen."

Arsenal will finish in the top four if they beat Everton on Sunday provided Liverpool lose or draw against relegated Middlesbrough.

"We have a difficult game, let's not forget this first," he added. "We will concentrate on our game and there is only one thing we can do which is to win and then hope the other results will go our way, which if they don't, they don't. But we need to make sure we win our game.

"I never care about the other results so I am not going to start now."