Aston Villa captain Fabian Delph has admitted that Arsenal were worthy winners of the FA Cup this afternoon.

Villa were making their first appearance in the final of the competition for 15 years, but goals from Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud made it an afternoon to forget for Tim Sherwood's side.

Delph acknowledged that his team did not do enough during the 4-0 defeat, in which they only mustered two blocked efforts at goal, but insists that he is optimistic about the club's future.

"Arsenal showed why they deserved the win. We were up against it, we tried to dig deep but their quality shone through and we struggled. Arsenal will admit that's one of their best performances of the season," Delph is quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"We didn't impose ourselves as much as we can do but they kept the ball well and tired us out. The manager said that we had it in us to cause an upset but we couldn't find the performance. But a few weeks ago we would have snapped your hand off to stay in the league and get to this final.

"Now it's important that we get a winning mentality. We have to forget about today, some players will come through the door to strengthen us and I am sure we will get better and better."

Arsenal's victory sees them become the most successful team in the 134-year history of the FA Cup as they have now won the competition 12 times.