Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has conceded that his side can have no excuses for their defensive display in their 3-2 defeat to Stoke City.

The Gunners conceded after 20 seconds as Peter Crouch found the net, while Bojan and Jonathan Walters also struck to hand the Potters a 3-0 half-time lead.

Arsene Wenger's men rallied in the second half to pull within a goal, but could not salvage a draw as they fell to their fourth Premier League defeat of the campaign.

"[We can't defend like that], we have no excuses," Flamini told the club's official website. "We came here and wanted to come back with the three points, especially when we were coming back from a good run of games, but today we did not start the game well at all.

"We conceded a goal after [20] seconds and after that we had an opportunity to come back into the game but we couldn't score. We are very upset with ourselves and very sorry for our fans, who travelled here.

"It is a difficult day for us, the only positive thing today is the character we showed, because we didn't give up, we pushed it until the last minute. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get the draw."

Arsenal are sixth in the Premier League table following their fifth defeat in eight visits to the Britannia Stadium.