Wengers hails Gunners character

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger praised his side’s resilience to fight back from a two-goal deficit to earn a draw at West Brom on Saturday.

Slack defending saw the title hopefuls trail after just three minutes via the head of Steven Reid, before a howler from goalkeeper Manuel Almunia allowed Peter Odemwingie to double Albion’s lead prior to the hour mark.

But the French boss said his club’s never-say-die attitude helped them overturn their deficit and salvage a point from the match, despite still dropping two points on league leaders Manchester United, who won 1-0 late over Bolton at Old Trafford.

“We had our backs to the wall and it was about our character and resilience,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“The pitch was very difficult so it was more down to our fight and character than pure football.”

“I’m disappointed because it was a game where we dropped two points.”

“But psychologically for the rest of the season it was important for us to show character and not lose a game.”

Wenger did not see the result as having taken any wind out of their Premiership sail, rather a positive performance that can be built upon in their quest for some elusive silverware.

“Overall I think the team, if not completely happy tonight, at least we know we are ready for a fight,” Wenger said.

“To lose today would have been a massive blow and it was a better point because we were two goals down.”

“Mathematically we dropped two but let’s start again at home next time.”

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson said he feared the Arsenal comeback would come, not trusting his side to hold onto their two-goal lead with 20 minutes left.

“I never thought it was game over at 2-0,” Hodgson told Sky Sports.

“We scored the second goal against the run of play and we’d already had to soak up a lot of pressure even at 1-0.”

“I thought we were surviving the pressure quite well – the team were working very hard and were very disciplined in our defensive work.”

“But when the opponents have the ball in and around your penalty area for large amounts of time you can’t be surprised if the ball goes into the goal.”