Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has insisted that his team have taken positives from their defeat to Manchester United.

The Gunners recorded their second loss of the season when former striker Robin van Persie scored the only goal of the game at Old Tafford before the international break.

"What I learnt from my team was that we have the potential to play at the top level," Wenger told the club's official website. "In the first half, we played with the handbrake, that means we still want to strengthen that belief.

"I watched the game again - Manchester United had two shots on target, one of them was the goal. [The fact] we could restrict them to very few chances away from home, that will hopefully teach us a lesson that in the next big games [that we must] play on full cylinders from the start."

The North London outfit are preparing to take on Southampton at the Emirates tomorrow.