Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insists they did not deserve derby defeat to Tottenham yesterday.

The Frenchman was defiant after the final whistle, however, claiming that Spurs' first goal should not have been allowed to stand because Rafael van der Vaart handled the ball before unleashing the volley that put the hosts ahead.

He said: "It's frustrating because the first goal was handball and I wonder what the linesmen do in these situations. It's a second yellow card as well, because he already had a yellow card."

Gervinho, Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott were all guilty of missing chances in the first half - something which clearly annoyed the Arsenal boss.

"We played with the handbrake on in the first half," he said.

"But at half-time we came out and had a go at them and normally got back to 1-1.

"But then we didn't push on enough and let them get back into the game. That shows we are not playing with confidence at the moment. We want to protect our result too much when we have one."