• Premier League

Arsenal's defeat to Spurs won't be decisive, says Wenger

Arsene Wenger does not believe Arsenal's North London derby defeat against Tottenham on Saturday will prove to be a decisive result in the race for a top four finish in the Premier League.

Wenger conceded that his side could "have no complaints" after two Harry Kane goals gave Spurs a well-deserved victory against their local rivals and moved them ahead of the Gunners in the Premier League standings.

Yet Wenger is convinced his side will bounce back and strive to retain their Champions League status for another season, as he looks forward to Tuesday night's Premier League game against Leicester at the Emirates.

Wenger was animated throughout © Getty Images

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When asked whether too much can be read into the significance of one high profile defeat, Wenger said: "Of course, it is dangerous [to draw swift conclusions].

"There is a long way to go, so I believe that just keep going and recover, show quickly a strong response on Tuesday, and then we see where we stand after that.

"We lost a game and we cannot deny that. We can have no complaints about the result. It's not the first time we lose a game, but how we bounce back is to take the information from what we got at Tottenham and respond very quickly.

"It is disappointing because we did fight hard together, but we made too many technical mistakes. We lost too many balls in situations where we could have put Tottenham in trouble. We looked like we could score every time in their final third, but we did not do enough.

"Again, when it was tense, we did make the mistake that you cannot afford and it's a bit disappointing to concede the second goal."

Wenger confirmed he is hopeful of having star forward Alexis Sanchez back in contention for a place in his team or on the substitutes bench for the visit of Leicester, with the absence of the committed Chilean international felt in a derby game that saw Tottenham out-work Arsenal for long periods of the game on Saturday.

However, the prolonged absence of Gunners winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continues, with his groin injury taking longer than expected to heal.

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