Wenger: We were poor in every area

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger refused to blame his defence after the shock 1-0 Carling Cup defeat at Ipswich.

The npower Championship side will take a deserved lead into the semi-final second leg at the Emirates later this month after lone striker Tamas Priskin capped a fine performance with the only goal 12 minutes from time.

Wenger said: "Let's not think that we lost the game because we haven't bought a central defender. We lost the game because we didn't play as well as we can."

Priskin gave centre-halves Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny a torrid evening and should have opened the scoring before he did.

Wenger has been linked with a move for former Gunner Matt Upson at West Ham but refused to comment on the move.

However, with a Champions League tie with Barcelona on the horizon and the Barclays Premier League run-in looming nearer, Wenger's back four looks dangerously light of cover.

He continued: "We have only two central defenders and we are short but I do not want to speak about any particular name.

"Frankly I am just disappointed about our defeat. It is early to talk about a player coming in. We have nine games in January and it happens sometimes that you don't always play well in every game.

"As a team we did not have the performance we wanted. We were below our usual level in every department and it would be unfair to put the blame in the defence.

"When you play in one half the long ball has 50 yards to be dangerous."