Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has pledged not to play a weakened team against relegation-threatened Watford on the final day of the Premier League season.

The Gunners go into Sunday's match knowing they're set to finish outside the top-six for the first time in a quarter of a century while Watford need points in their bid to beat the drop.

Arsenal lost at Aston Villa midweek and Arteta says they don't want to go into next month's FA Cup final on the back of another defeat.

"I want to see the players in the best mindset for the final game," the Arsenal manager said at today's press conference. "Ideally I want to play as strong a team as I can. We have to respect that there are a few teams in a relegation battle and we have to respect that as well.

"We have a responsibility to the other clubs and a responsibility to win any game. If mentally we are not ready or our level of application is not 100 per cent, then you have a problem.

"The best way to prepare for the FA Cup final is to give it 100 per cent in this next game and get our momentum back.

"We cannot go into the game with a lack of intensity when it comes to 50-50s and things like that."