Arsenal winger Theo Walcott believes the team owed manager Arsene Wenger a big performance to get their campaign back on track.
The Gunners thumped Blackburn 7-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday - their first league win of 2012 - which saw them cut the gap on fourth-placed Chelsea to three points after the Blues' 3-3 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
Walcott feels it was about time the Arsenal players got it right after a frustrating spell in which they lost three successive league games and missed several chances in a stalemate at Bolton.
"The boss always takes a lot of stick from everyone criticising him but us players need to look up to him because he's been taking it all," the England international said. "We are the ones who go out there and put out the performances and sometimes they have not been good enough."
Walcott, quoted on the club's official website, added: "There are so many world-class players in the dressing room so it is disappointing when we come back from Bolton with a 0-0 draw where we had a lot of chances.
"It has just been one of those frustrating seasons.
"Hopefully a lot of those frustrations came out against Blackburn, where everybody stood up for themselves."