The loss at the Hawthorns also saw midfield duo Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta sustaining injuries, with the former now reportedly set for a 3 month recovery period.
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West Brom denied Arsenal the chance to go top of the Premier League standings by recording a gutsy 2-1 win at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
And Wenger, already without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck, suffered further setbacks when he lost midfielders Coquelin to a knee problem and Arteta to a recurrence of a calf injury.
“I think we don’t want to take credit from West Brom but across the 90 minutes we were the better side”, the goalkeeper said.
Arsene Wenger called on Arsenal to put their game in order for the must-win Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb. We just had to make sure that they didn’t come back with an easy goal.
“It looks hard to have players come back Tuesday night”, said Wenger.
Midfielder Arijan Ademi failed a drugs test following Dinamo’s surprise 2-1 victory over Arsene Wenger’s side on matchday one and has been banned for four years by UEFA, though he has always protested his innocence.
“Our defending at that level was very, very poor”. Wenger also ruled out suggesstions that the recent terror attacks may have affected the mental focus of Arsenal’s French players Giroud and Laurent Koscielny. “But when you’re on the pitch, you’re on the pitch”.
“For my part, I would not explain our defeat by that”.
“We will give absolutely everything to stay in the Champions League”, Wenger said.
Flamini might have built a company that can save the future, but he isn’t the same player that he once was at Arsenal before he left for AC Milan.
While Evans’ style is all about reading the game and covering anything played in behind, Olsson is someone who thrives on a physical battle, which made him ideal for dealing with Olivier Giroud and leaving Evans to concentrate on the space that the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil operate in.
“It is a great result for us and I thought the lads deserved it for the effort and commitment”.
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“If we don’t get results we won’t get that time”.
