Arsenal manager admits top-four hunt is difficult after Spurs defeat

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted the club face a difficult task of making the top-four after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

The Gunners played with a defensive mindset for most of the first-half, and this kept the scores level heading into the break. However, they were dominated through the second period, and Harry Kane popped up with the match-winning goal for Spurs at the Wembley Stadium.

Speaking after the game, Wenger said that the club could be up against it to make the Champions League places with the gap to fourth-placed Liverpool having extended to six points, though the Reds have a game in hand.

"In the first half we missed three or four opportunities on the counter attack which is difficult to swallow, always the final ball. We contained them to very little," he told BT Sport.

"Once they scored you could see we were wobbling and they could have scored more but in the last 10 minutes we should have come back to 1-1. It will be more difficult to finish in the top four but we have to fight for it. "

The Gunners do not have another Premier League game during the month of February, but they have a key double-legged Europa League tie versus Ostersund scheduled alongside a League Cup final versus Manchester City.