SAM Allardyce paid homage to Arsene Wenger and his awesome Arsenal side on Saturday, but was still bitterly disappointed that Wanderers did not come away from Highbury with at least a point.

Hailing the Gunners, who matched the records of the mighty Leeds United side of the Seventies and the Liverpool success machine of the Eighties by stretching their unbeaten start to the season to 29 games, the Wanderers boss said Wenger had the treble of Premiership, FA Cup and European Cup in his hands, suggesting "I can't see anyone stopping them."

Yet Wanderers almost did.

Having been outplayed and outmanoeuvred by Arsenal's master class and being 2-0 down to goals from Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp inside 24 minutes, they produced an amazing recovery, sparked by Ivan Campo's first goal of the season four minutes before half time, then proceeded to squander chances that might not have won them the game, but could comfortably have earned them a draw.

Stelios hit the crossbar, Kevin Davies missed the target with a free header and, right at the death, Campo skied a shot over the Arsenal bar from eight yards.

The upshot is that they now go into Sunday's Reebok clash with Newcastle on the back of a five-match losing run that has seen them suffer Carling Cup Final heartbreak and a slump in the league that is threatening to undermine confidence and send them hurtling headlong towards the danger zone.

Although delighted with the way his players responded after being over-awed and over-run by Wenger's Gunners, Allardyce highlighted the twin perils of defensive frailty and attacking impotence and admitted: "We are in the depths of a very, very worrying run of defeats and we've got to get ourselves out of it.

"We've got to try to keep our confidence and keep our nerve and keep trying to play, as we did in the second half," he said.

"I was very, very pleased with the reaction of the players after they almost wilted under the pressure of Arsenal's run.

"They went out a little bewildered and we never really did any of the things we set out to do; we didn't defend correctly or attack at all and, ultimately, with Arsenal in the mood they are in, they popped up with a couple of goals.

"And there lies the difference between the teams at the top and the rest.

"Then, when we finally got ourselves back into it with the goal, which we probably didn't deserve, we saw Arsenal get a little shaky. When we got on the front foot and closed them down at the top end of the pitch with the back four pushing behind, we saw them get even shakier. What we couldn't do, however, was to score the chances that came our way. Arsenal would have.

"At the moment our gilt-edged chances are just not going in. We can't ask for any more than we've created against the 'big boys' of Arsenal and Chelsea. We've had golden opportunities for our players to score goals, which is half the battle against these boys, but we've failed miserably and, ultimately, in the last two games, paid a heavy price with no points at all.

"Up to half time we didn't deserve anything but, once we started creating chances, we should have really got it to 2-2. Whether we would have got a point then, I don't know, but that's what we needed to do."

Allardyce called for a collective effort from his players to prevent pressure mounting in the final nine games.

Suggesting that one or more individuals had been trying too hard to the detriment of the team, he added: "If players start trying to win games on their own, we're going to be in trouble and they are going to be in trouble.

"We have to stick to the team format, show the strengths we showed in the second half and score when we are on top.

"If we do that, we'll start getting results. If we don't we're going to continue to struggle."