The 28-year-old was relegated to a place on the bench as the Gunners fought hard for a point during a largely uneventful affair at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

Neville, who eviscerated most of the Arsenal team in the wake of their 4-0 hammering by Liverpool two weeks ago, claimed it was a deserved result after a much improved showing from their humiliation at Anfield.

And, the 42-year-old said, Sanchez’s absence from the starting 11 certainly helped.

"Arsene Wenger made a difference," Neville told Sky Sports.

"He chose attitude and hard work over talent.

"Iwobi and Welbeck did what Ozil and Sanchez didn't do at Liverpool. They attached themselves to the two central midfielders.

“When I saw Xhaka and Ramsey in this team today, I thought they would get bulldozed in midfield, however, Iwobi tucked in, making Chelsea go wide and Welbeck did the same on the other side.

"When you think about Ray Parlour and the job he did for Arsenal over the years, of course, there would have been more talented players than him but he put in the hard work and showed the right attitude.”

Sanchez’s future at the club remains the subject of much uncertainty after a proposed deadline day move to Man City collapsed at the 11th hour.

Arsenal fans could now face losing their talisman for free in the summer, as the former Barcelona man will be free to negotiate with other teams from January ahead of his contract expiring in June.