Arsene Wenger admits Arsenal must use Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against FC Twente to get back on track after their shock defeat at Fulham.

The Gunners produced one of their worst performances in recent memory in Saturday's 1-0 loss and Wenger left Craven Cottage with a multitude of problems to contemplate.

With Cesc Fabregas injured, Arsenal lacked any creativity, leaving Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor starved of service. That might have been surmountable if Kolo Toure and William Gallas hadn't been so sloppy at the back.

Such an unsettling result so early in the season — after two underwhelming victories — has left Wenger concerned about his young team's ability to fulfil their potential.

Arsenal hold a 2-0 advantage from the first leg against Steve McClaren's Twente and that should be enough to cruise through to the lucrative group stage.

But Wenger can't afford another morale-denting defeat so the Dutch visitors will be greeted by a full-strength team at the Emirates Stadium.

"When you lose a game the solution is not always to buy. Did we play at our best? I say 'no' and so we have to look at why," Wenger said.

"We had problems to win our first few games last year but we won them. This year we did not win, that is the reality. We had 60 minutes to come back on Fulham and we did not do it.

"Is that down to Fulham's quality or the fact we were not good enough? Only the future will tell us that."

Even if Wenger wanted to shake up his team, there are few options available.

New signing Mikael Silvestre will be sidelined again as the France defender recovers from muscle strain, while Philippe Senderos was set for a medical at AC Milan on Tuesday ahead of a loan move to the Serie A club.

If Wenger feels the need for reassurance that his position is still brighter than most of his rivals he need only look across to the other bench on Wednesday.

McClaren will be in north London for his first competitive match in the UK since the end of his dismal reign as England manager.

The Twente boss must have thought the abuse that cascaded down on him after England's failure to qualify for Euro 2008 would finally cease when he moved to the Netherlands. But he has had no such luck.

Not only is McClaren struggling to shake off the "wally with the brolly" nickname he earned after sheltering under an umbrella during England's loss to Croatia, now he has to contend with ridicule of the slight Dutch twang in his accent during a Dutch television interview before the first leg.

The only way to silence the English critics would have been to knock out Arsenal but, although his young team troubled the Gunners in the first leg, even McClaren concedes that is an unrealistic aim now.

"It's a massive mountain to climb. It's bigger than Everest but we take heart from the performance (in the first leg)," he said.

"I've said before that this tie isn't just about now but also the future. I like what I see of this team. We showed we are a good team who can compete with the likes of Arsenal."

AFP