Johan Djourou believes tomorrow night's Carling Cup clash with Shrewsbury can help restore confidence at Emirates Stadium after Saturday's shock defeat at Blackburn.
The Gunners, who have the worst defensive record in the top flight, slumped to their third Premier League loss of the season at Ewood Park in what is their poorest start to a season since 1953-54.
Shrewsbury travel to north London sitting third in League Two and Djourou believes a win is vital to get Arsenal's season - and confidence - back on track.
"When you lose, it is always important to have a response," he said. "Even if it is at home in the Carling Cup, we want to win so we need a big response tomorrow.
"We have to bounce back because we have another game and we have to be ready for those.
"We are disappointed but there is still a long way to go and things are not over yet.
"The team are building together and we are getting stronger.
"We could have won the game but this team have got a lot of potential and we have to work hard to be the best."
Under-fire manager Arsene Wenger agreed with the centre-back and said: "You could see that the confidence in our defenders has gone a little bit and it is important to get it back.
"We just have to focus on the next game now."
