Arsène Wenger says the defeat to Manchester United played on the minds of his defenders as they started poorly in Sunday’s meeting with Southampton.

Against United at the Emirates, the Gunners self-destructed in the opening 15 minutes, and couldn’t find a way to get back level for the remainder of the match. Then, against Southampton, Arsenal did the same thing, conceding chance after chance early on.

They could count themselves lucky to only be 1-0 down at that stage, and Wenger explained after the game why he thought that was.

“I felt that the Manchester United game played a bit of a part in the head of our defenders. It was a bit in their head and they were a bit apprehensive to start well again and that’s why it is sometimes not good to talk about the problem because you create a bigger one.

“I’m not happy with the point because I wanted three, but if you cannot win it, don’t lose it and we kept going. We were relentless, after a difficult start we were caught cold and overall it was a windy, rainy afternoon against a team who played well and were quick on the counter-attack.”

Arsenal did have to show character to come from behind and earn a draw. The one point gained was significant, in that it took the Gunners back ahead of Spurs in the Premier League table, at least for the time being. But Wenger’s side will need to perform better in the next couple of matches if they want any chance of staying above Tottenham for a lengthy period.

The Gunners have to play fellow top-four hopefuls Liverpool and Chelsea over the next month, meaning they can’t be dropping any more points against the likes of Southampton, West Ham and Newcastle.