Although they still have a match in hand, the lead over fifth place is now just two points.

Wenger, however, is not considering anything other than qualification for the elite club competition once again.

“It is the minimum target we want to reach at the start of every season, and it will be like that every year,” said the Arsenal manager ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bolton.

“It is the minimum target because you want to win every trophy you play for.

“You want to be in the Champions League again and to win it next year you have to be in.

“We want to be there and nobody else so I do not worry about what will happen if they get in.

“In England, you have the potential of 10 massive clubs and they will not always be asleep.

“To smash in and compete in the top four, you will now have Aston Villa, Newcastle, Tottenham. They are all big clubs with the same potential as Arsenal.

“Bolton? I do not know whether they have the same potential fans as, say, Newcastle.

“If Newcastle have a good team, they would get 60,000 people every week.”

While the UEFA Cup would again be an achievement in itself for Bolton – who were not so long ago playing at Burden Park and scraping around the lower leagues – it would be a massive blow were the Gunners to fail to reach the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

Their new 60,000-seater Emirates Stadium is certainly a venue befitting top-flight European football and all the extra income that brings.

Wenger, though, is focused on the here and now, rather than what may or may not happen down the line.

He added: “You can always adapt the revenue, the most important thing is that you have a good team and that you achieve what you want to achieve.

“We have never gone bust, we always adjust to what we face.

“At the moment I focus on tomorrow’s game and the consequence of if, if, if - that does not work.

“You focus on doing well tomorrow. Why worry about after tomorrow?”

The Trotters have proved stubborn opponents for Arsenal in recent seasons.

Wenger’s men were beaten 3-1 at the Reebok in November but won their FA Cup replay at the same venue by the same score in February.

“It is a big game against a direct rival,” Wenger added.

“They have good players, good strikers and a direct style which they will use.

“We play at home, we know we can beat them and just focus on playing well.”

With just the Premiership to concentrate on now, Wenger was an interested spectator as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The Arsenal manager accepts to win all four competitions would be “a major demand” and “something really special.”

However, Wenger insists he has no problem with other English clubs doing well in the Champions League, even if his own side’s shortcomings this season remain hard to stomach.

He said: “It has been enjoyable for me to watch. I am very happy the three English clubs are in there.

“It is hard for us to be out, but not hard for the others to be in. Your satisfaction comes from your own achievements, so therefore it was hard for us to watch it – but last year it was hard for them to watch us.

“This season we have shown both a lack of maturity and also huge potential.

“Next year we will be much more mature. Offensively we have been hit at the same time [by injuries], because in January and February, we were flying.

“We were then hit very hard in a short space of time, and that takes time to heal.”