Arsene Wenger insisted
that continuing talk of a takeover would not serve to disrupt
Arsenal following their dramatic 2-2 draw at Tottenham
Hotspur.
Jermaine Jenas scored in injury time to hold The Gunners in
Saturday's North London derby at White Hart Lane, but Wenger
believed his side should have enjoyed a five-goal victory after
hitting the woodwork on three occasions.
The draw comes at the end of a week of upheaval at Emirates Stadium
following David Dein's exit and the news that Stan Kroenke has
upped his stake in the club, but the French boss is sure his side
will not be affected by issues off the pitch.
"We wanted of course to give a victory to David today and of course
it was an eventful week, [but] it will not distract I feel," Wenger
told Sky Sports.
"You choose yourself within the club and within the team to focus
on your own performances and not to what happens.
"That is part of being a big club, if a superstar comes in your
position or there is a takeover or something else happens.
"It is down to the mental strength of the team and we have shown
today that we have some."
Arsenal battled back superbly after Robbie Keane's opener, with
Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor netting in a commanding second
half display from The Gunners.
Whilst insisting his side deserved a much wider margin of victory,
Wenger rued an inability to kill off the game which has cost The
Gunners throughout the season.
"We should have won by five goals. It's frustrating, I couldn't
Tottenham creating many chances today, they scored two goals,"
added Wenger.
"It's been the story of the season. We had fantastic spirit and a
great quality to our game but we have to learn to make the maximum
of what we create.
"Of course to come out of the game with the chances Tottenham
created and to concede two goals is too many.
"We hit the post three times and had two or three crosses plus the
shots, I think we should have scored at least five today.
"It is a bit confidence, maturity as well, but the basic
ingredients are fantastic and we have to keep working and believe
in what we do because we produced some outstanding football
today."