Wenger rues subpar display

Arsene Wenger was left disappointed in his players after they suffered an unexpected 1-0 defeat to Sunderland at The Stadium of Light.

The Gunners failed to score for the first time this season as Darren Bent's second-half goal secured all three points for the hosts.

The long-serving Arsenal manager said that his team did not do enough to mentally prepare for a tough battle in the North East.

"It's a big disappointment, basically because we were not at our level," Wenger told Sky Sports after the match.

"I feel that some players struggled really to prepare properly, mentally for a game like that because you know after an international break it's how well and how quickly the team can focus again."

Focus

But Wenger did not lay all the blame on international fixtures, stating that the team need to perform to their maximum every week in order to win the Premier League title.

"The international break doesn't help but it's down to us, as a team, to focus quickly again and to show that quality," he added.

"(To win the) championship (you need) to be capable, every time, to turn up as close as possible to your best in a consistent way.

"When you cannot do that, you can lose games like that."

Arsenal's defeat leaves them eight points behind table-toppers Chelsea and Wenger admits that the result comes as a major blow to their title ambitions.

He said: "It is a big setback because you do not prepare yourself to drop points in a situation like that.

"It's not especially worrying, it's frustrating, because I know we have the quality but it is frustrating when you see some performances today - that is very frustrating."