Thomas Vermaelen wants Arsenal to stick together after two straight defeats

Thomas Vermaelen: Has called on his Arsenal team-mates to stick together

Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen has called on his team-mates to stick together after suffering their second defeat in a week at the hands of Schalke.

The Gunners slumped to their first home loss in the UEFA Champions League since 2009 after late goals from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ibrahim Afellay earned Schalke all three points at the Emirates.

The defeat comes on the back of Arsenal's disappointing defeat to Norwich last weekend and Vermaelen has issued a rallying call to his team-mates to bounce back against Queens Park Rangers this weekend.

"It is really important at the moment to stay together as a team," Vermaelen told Sky Sports News.

"Of course the results are not great at the moment but in these times you have to stay together and in the end you are stronger as a group and I am positive that this group has a lot of quality to come back."

Gunners midfielder Mikel Arteta echoed the sentiments of Vermaelen, admitting they need to put things right after two below-par showings against Norwich and Schalke.

"We have to put this behind us, we have got a very important game on Saturday against Queens Park Rangers and we have to bounce back after two defeats there is no question about that," noted Arteta.