2010-01-25 : Stoke City 3 - 1 Arsenal (FA Cup)

Wenger: I do not regret my team selection

Dear Arsenal Supporter,

Sunday's FA Cup tie was more physical than technical and physically Stoke were stronger than us.

We had a fantastic attitude and at 1-1 we looked like we were on top in the last 20 minutes so it was important not to make a mistake. But we got caught on the counter-attack for their second goal and that was an important moment in the game.

I knew that it would be tight but I had hoped that after bringing on Ramsey, Eduardo and Arshavin that we would win the game. But Stoke were sharp, they were physical and they were always dangerous in the air. The pitch was very difficult because it was not very good and it took us too much time to bring the ball down and play.

I do not regret my team selection because I did not have much choice. Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen and Gael Clichy could not play and I think Sol Campbell had a good game overall.

If you look at our schedule you cannot always play with the same XI, that is for sure. If I rotate and we don't win it is my fault so I can only stand up and say that is the team I picked. We have ten injuries and we are going into a period where we cannot rotate a lot in the big games.

Sol made his second 'debut' for Arsenal and he did very well. Maybe in the last 20 minutes he was a bit fatigued but he was surprisingly fit for a guy who has not played for such a long time. He is motivated, he works very hard in training and you could see that on Sunday.

Sagna, Vermaelen and Clichy will all be back for Aston Villa on Wednesday and they could have missed that game if they had played at Stoke. Now it is vital for us to focus on Villa because we are in an interesting position and it is a very important game.

Thanks for your support.

Arsène Wenger