Arsenal's loss to Hull was down to our mental preparation, says Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger last night admitted that he suffered his lowest moment as Arsenal boss against Hull.

And the pain was all the harder to take because he thought his side had finally cured their mental frailties.

Frustrated Wenger, still stunned by the defeat that turned the Premier League on its head, said: "Hull has to be a good learning curve - because you cannot get worse than that!

"I have been in this job for a long while but it does not become easier to cope with these sort of games and results.

I just went home and watched it again, to try to understand how you could be 1-0 up and lose 2-1.

"We had 10 chances to score that we did not take. It is down to the percentage of chances that you take. Hull took 95 per cent of their chances and we took maybe 10 per cent. That has made the difference.

"I think we are solid, more solid than ever when we are completely switched on. We showed that at Bolton, when we were 1-0 down but you could see the team was really focused.

"But at the moment I am not sure we can focus all the time in every single game, especially when we think the game will be easy. In the games in which we are favourites we have to be as difficult to play against as in the others."

"I can understand that for a non-Arsenal fan it was a great day but for us it was a shocking defeat. It was harder to take because we showed resilience at Bolton and Blackburn. It shows we are not completely there on the mental side and that is where we have to work.

"In the past we have been beaten physically, we have been intimidated. We know we can deal with that now but we are sometimes a bit too confident in the home games when we need to put some effort in. What really hurts is that we've lost six points, against Fulham and Hull, that we expected to win.

"We are two points behind the lead when we could have been four points clear.

"That hurts more than anything else. To win the league means taking the opportunity when you can.

And that comes down to consistency. You expect to beat Hull at home."

Wenger's plans to ring the changes tonight against Porto have been blocked with Alex Song and Abou Diaby both ruled out.

It means a reprieve for the defensive duo of skipper William Gallas and Kolo Toure, who admitted that he had been apprehensive about Saturday's game.

Toure said: "I was scared before we played this game. When you play Manchester United everybody thinks it's going to be a test. When it's Hull, everybody expects you to win. You have to focus all the time."

PROBABLE TEAMS

ARSENAL Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Walcott, Fabregas, Eboue, Van Persie, Adebayor, Bendtner

FC PORTO Helton, Sapunaru, Bruno Alves, Rolando, Fucile, Lucho, Fernando, Raul Meireles, Mariano, Lisandro, Rodriguez

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