After dropping more 'easy' points Arsenal boss Wenger vows to rekindle the club's charge

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The 1-1 draw against Birmingham underlined the problems Wenger faces as Manchester United's bid to retain their crown gathers pace.

United, back on top of the table after their 6-0 demolition of Newcastle, have dropped just three points in their last eight games while Arsenal have lost nine points over the same period.

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"We dropped two points on Saturday which we should not have dropped," admitted Wenger. "The lads are really disappointed and I'm sure they will refocus in the next few days.

"What we showed against Birmingham was not sufficient."

Wenger is concerned that Arsenal have lost points against teams they would normally expect to beat. Since the beginning of December when they enjoyed a six-point lead over United they have dropped: Two points against Newcastle; Three points against Middlesbrough; Two points against Portsmouth; Two points against Birmingham.

A midweek free of fixtures will give the coach the luxury of an extra two sessions with his players as they prepare to relaunch their title bid against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

But that match is not as straightforward as it might seem if the Birmingham game is anything to go by. Wenger will need no reminding that last season his team lost 2-1 at Fulham and had Philippe Senderos sent off.

He knows they must learn the lessons of their woeful second-half performance on Saturday if they are to sustain a challenge in the title race.

Global acclaim for their passing game is all very well but, to be successful, you must win matches. And Wenger acknowledged that when he wrote in his programme notes: "We cannot afford to take anything for granted."

Have they become complacent? "We were caught up in the feeling, during the game, that it would be easy and that is a good lesson for us," said the Arsenal manager.

"We lost a ball we shouldn't have lost and from the corner we weren't sharp enough. Then, after that, we lacked quality in the final third and that was a collective problem.

"I take full responsibility. That was the poorest game we have played. We tried, but we lacked creativity and incisiveness. It's one of the mysteries of football that some players hadn't played for 10 days and yet were still not sharp."

Arsenal are clearly missing Ivory Coast defender Kolo Toure - who is away on African Nations' Cup duty - and could face a further four weeks without their influential centre-back. Two other defenders, Emmanuel Eboue and Alexandre Song, are also away at the tournament.

But despite their absences and the team's wayward form, Wenger insists he won't be strengthening his squad in this month's transfer window. "I'm not looking for anyone," he said.

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"When you don't win a game it's too easy to say 'let's go out and buy.' It's not the way I want to go. This team have won many games since the start of the season and I have great belief in their ability."

Gael Clichy, who last featured in the New Year's Day victory over West Ham, accepted that Arsenal were forced to pay a heavy price for their loss of concentration against Birmingham.

"The boss told us at half-time to be ready from the first minute of the second half," he said. "Perhaps we didn't listen to him."

The French defender, though, insisted that Arsenal still have the character to sustain a title challenge. "I don't think the mentality has gone," he said.

"We know we have the quality to win it. We are still there for the title and we're going to show that against Fulham. We have to refocus and move forward."

Such is the intensity of the title race, with United leading on goal difference and rampant Chelsea just four points behind, that Wenger has little time to work on repairing pride and confidence.

Arsenal certainly need to be back at the top of their form by the time they visit their two big rivals in the spring.

United knew Arsenal had dropped two points when they kicked off against Newcastle at tea-time on Saturday and they produced one of the most exhilarating performances of the season.

While Arsenal's passing game is unrivalled, the goalscoring form and cutting edge provided by players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney might prove decisive in the second half of the season.

"We can't play like that every week," conceded Sir Alex Ferguson. "But when we do and it all clicks any team would struggle to cope with us."