Two vital wins over the last four days have put the Gunners in control of their Champions League group and seen them head in the right direction in the Premier League too. In their different ways, the victories over Fulham and Olympiacos have shown that this Arsenal squad has developed since last year. On Saturday, the team proved they could "win ugly" and defend a slender one-nil lead and, on Tuesday night, they showed relentless endeavour in breaking down an Olympiacos side that had no attacking ambition whatsoever and defended with ten men.

After last season's debacle at Craven Cottage, many Arsenal supporters were looking to Saturday's match against Fulham as a barometer of whether this team has the heart required to come away from tricky away grounds with a result. Roy Hodgson's team are a different prospect on their own turf. They raise their game when hosting higher profile teams and are capable of overturning the formbook - as both Arsenal and Manchester United found to their cost last season.

Arsenal were a long way from their best, particularly in the first half, but when Robin Van Persie latched onto an exquisite pass from Cesc Fabregas and converted a sharp chance, it was enough to give the Gunners the edge. Some determined defending and a few decent saves from stand-in goalkeeper Vito Mannone saw the lead held and the three points safely banked.

The performance was in total contrast to last year's effort when a lazy and complacent Arsenal team sauntered about waiting for victory to come to them. That day, the team got exactly what it deserved - nothing. Sometimes though, making sure you come away with more than you deserve can mean the difference between winning a title and finishing in the places. On Saturday, Fulham had the better goalscoring chances and, at times, looked the much better team but Arsenal, having seized the initiative, stood firm and shut them out.

It was the sort of performance that was the stock in trade of the classic "one-nil to the Arsenal" squad of the early-mid 90s and if the more artistic tendencies of the sides Arsenal Wenger presides over has finally been augmented by the ability to grind out a hard-fought - and even undeserved - victory when required, then that can only bode well for the coming months.

Olympiacos set the Gunners a quite different task on Tuesday night. Particularly since the move to Ashburton Grove, we have become accustomed to away teams turning up with nothing more in mind than playing for a nil-nil draw and hoping to maybe nick something on the break. The Greeks didn't appear to even have aspirations of achieving the latter for most of the match and barely managed to force their way out of their own half throughout the ninety minutes. To their credit, they did make things very difficult for Arsene Wenger's men and, as the minutes ticked away, it was beginning to look as if no matter how hard Arsenal huffed and puffed they could not blow the Olympiacos house down.

The breakthrough came in the 78th minute when Eduardo made a run down the inside left channel and timed his cutback from the goal-line to perfection and found Robin Van Persie who swept the ball home. Eight minutes later, the game was made safe when Andrey Arshavin finished off some scintillating build-up play with a thrillingly extravagant back-heel into the net. The Russian looked dubiously offside but the home support couldn't have cared less as they celebrated an inspirational goal.

It was an encouraging sign that the Gunners were able to find a way through such a determined defensive wall. Plenty of other teams visiting Ashburton Grove will deploy the same tactics but one senses that the squad is now better equipped to deal with such situations and has more options than just looking to Cesc Fabregas to unpick tight defences. The result puts Arsenal firmly in the driving seat in their group and a couple more wins in their final four games will be more than enough to see them through to the knockout phase of the tournament.

In the light of two good results, Arsene Wenger has been talking up his squad to the media - most of whose questions concerned what the manager would do with the money he has at his disposal following the news of Arsenal returning a very healthy annual profit. As always, Wenger gave the current set of players his full endorsement, saying that he did not envisage any major new signings in the near future and that the squad was strong enough to compete. Competing is one thing, winning trophies is quite another though. Clearly, the Frenchman's answers where designed to deflect speculation and also to express his belief in his players to the outside world. As we all know the manager will render himself deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to publicly defending his players. That said, his answers will grate on some supporters. With millions sitting in the bank, reportedly hearing him say that he doesn't feel he can find better players than some of the current personnel seems a little deluded, if not faintly ridiculous.

Arsenal fans ought to be very proud of the way the club is run though. It is self-financing, independent of a single benefactor and does not just throw money it hasn't got at buying new players. Even if Wenger's answers were purely designed to neutralise questions over whether he will spend his transfer kitty or not, there is always room for improvement - as the signings of Arshavin and Vermaelen have shown. Reading back through what the manager actually said, more focus should be given to the quote: "If you are convinced you can maintain your policy and he is the player who makes the difference, then you spend money". Most supporters would be content with that. If the right player came up at the right price, then the club would buy him. That said, Wenger's quotes are geared to supposed calls for new strikers when top of most supporters' shopping lists would be a defensive midfield player. Still, this debate is academic until the transfer window opens in January. The squad is what it is until then and the most important thing right now is for them to concentrate on building a run of positive results.

Arsenal will get a further chance to show how much they have developed on Sunday when Blackburn Rovers roll into town. Teams managed by Sam Allardyce have often been a thorn in the Gunners' side in recent years and there is no doubt that Rovers will try to make things difficult for the home team and give them a rough ride. If "dealing with over-physicality" can be added to "winning ugly" and "breaking down ten-man defences" in the Gunners' repertoire, then Arsene Wenger's current buoyancy about his squad, and his assertion that they have matured, will start to have some real credibility.