Arsene Wenger has said that Arsenal's defenders were "outstanding" during their defeat to Stoke City this afternoon.

A Jonathan Walters penalty secured the 1-0 win for the Potters, which leaves the Gunners four points behind league leaders Chelsea.

The manager told reporters: "I think our defensive performance was outstanding.

"If you look well at the chances that Stoke had today, I can see maybe one cross on [Peter] Crouch and after that what did they create? Nothing at all, so you cannot say that our defenders didn't perform.

"When we started to pin them back on that long ball, we were dominating. We had some dangerous situations even if we didn't have any clear-cut chances but we conceded that penalty."

Arsenal face Swansea City next weekend.