Wembley woe is part of learning process: Toure

Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure believes Arsenal’s starlets will learn from the despair of their FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.

Arsene Wenger’s side arrived at Wembley on a high after beating Villarreal in midweek to reach the Champions League semi-finals, but they were unable to build on that victory as Didier Drogba’s late goal gave Chelsea a 2-1 win.

The Gunners had started well thanks to Theo Walcott’s 18th minute goal but struggled after Florent Malouda equalised.

Yet Toure is confident the experience of losing such a big game will provide Wenger’s squad with the knowledge of what to do differently next time.

“You can only learn from these types of games, because they are so intense,” Toure said.

“When you make some mistakes, they can cost you, which is what happened against Chelsea. We will just have to try not to do that again.”

Arsenal last won a major trophy in 2005 when they defeated Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Now they will have to get past United in the Champions League semi-finals to have a chance to end that drought.

“This can be just the start for this team, because there are some really good players coming through,” Toure said.

“The season started really badly, but we have come back very well.

“We hope to keep going now and improve the way we are playing.”

Arsenal still have plenty to focus on during the closing weeks of the campaign.

Wenger takes his men to Anfield on Tuesday looking to extend their unbeaten Premier League run from 18 matches with a victory which would both dent Liverpool’s title hopes and cement Arsenal’s place in the top four.

Toure believes having such an important match so quickly in what is a hectic month ahead will help quickly consign their Wembley defeat to history.

“The good thing is that we only have a couple of days to get this loss off our back,” he said.

“We will head to Liverpool on Tuesday and look to get the three points.

“Our target is now the league and Europe. We will stay focused for that.

“We just have to put all this to the back now and focus on the next game.”