Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has defended the lack of big spending he's made in the transfer market.

"At the time, we decided to build a stadium, which cost a lot of money," Wenger explained. "We decided to go for a policy where we could survive without buying too much. We knew the resources were short and we suffered a little bit.

"But this season we were really, really close. No team has been punished more than we have and we have still only lost three games.

"We tried and we closed the gap."

Wenger, whose side host Everton tomorrow, added: "Last year we had 68 points and finished far behind. This year, we can make 83 and who knows what that will be good enough for?

"It was down to one game winning or losing, and at the time when it became really tight, we had everything against us."