Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has revealed the extent of the pain he felt at seeing his team's Premier League and Champions League challenges come to an end, describing the period as his "worst week in 12 years".

Wenger, who joined the club in 1996, said he and his squad were devastated by last Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford, which came five days after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Liverpool.

Wenger, whose side face Reading on Saturday, reflected on seeing his season fizzle out after plenty of early promise.

Asked if it had been the worst week he had experienced during his time at Arsenal, he said: "Yes, it is the lowest week I have had here in all this time. But now we want to show our strength and our commitment and we want to finish the season well. We want to win against Reading because we have not had that winning feeling for a while.

"It has been a year of hard work and we have worked harder than ever this year. There are still 12 points to go for and we can still get them and that would be good progress. We worked for everything this year. The progress we made this year stagnated really when it mattered most due to various circumstances. We have to gain that little bit that makes you into winners."

Asked if he felt Premier League leaders Manchester United were now the outstanding team in the country, he said: "Yes, they are. But Man Utd are there on points, now, and what matters is if they are still there at the end of the year."

Arsenal are without a league win in four matches and have won only two of their last 13 games.