Wenger: It would be ‘criminal’ to feel sorry for ourselves

Arsene Wenger maintains it would be “criminal” for Arsenal to just sit and feel sorry for themselves ahead of tomorrow’s north London derby against Tottenham at Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners have taken a battering in the past 11 days, slumping to a 4-0 defeat in Milan which all but ended their Champions League hopes before then crashing out of the FA Cup at Sunderland. By contrast, Spurs are flying high under Harry Redknapp, currently 10 points ahead of their rivals in third place and face a home replay with Stevenage to make it through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Wenger, though, insists now is not the time for self pity as his squad look for a response to keep themselves in the top four ahead of Chelsea, who host Bolton today.