Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says his defence do not deserve to be blamed for their form slide.

Wenger insists it is not only defensively where his side have let themselves down.

"The problems in our defence are a bit about confidence and bad luck," said the Frenchman.

"Vermaelen is in good form physically, but you have to accept sometimes that human beings go through periods where it goes less well. We are more concerned about where our creativity has gone.

"Our defensive record is not very bad. Of course, in the three big games of the season - Chelsea, Schalke and Man United - we made defensive mistakes. But at the moment, we are not used to playing games and not creating chances. That's what we want to rectify because that is our game.

"We have been criticised many times for giving chances away but we are not used to being criticised for not creating, because we have a team that is based on creativity."