Kolo Toure has denied that complacency was to blame for Arsenal's defeat by Hull City on Saturday, but says that he was "scared" by the fear of failure.

William Gallas, the Arsenal captain, said the 2-1 defeat by Hull, only the club's second loss at the Emirates Stadium, happened because they underestimated their opponents. However, Toure says it was down to the high expectations of the supporters.

"I was scared to play the game," Toure said. "Sometimes people, not the players, play the game before it's started and that's a problem because there are no small teams in the Premiership.

"Against Man United everybody thinks it's going to be a tight game but when you play against Hull it's harder because you are expected to win and score in the first minute.

"But it doesn't happen like that. I was scared against Hull because there are no easy games. We are professional players and when we go out we want to play well and win."

Arsene Wenger has vowed to make wholesale changes to his side for the Champions League tie against Porto, and Toure is grateful for the chance to get back on track.

"We can't just think about Hull," he said. "It's true we lost and didn't play well. But we didn't play very well against Fulham and then we came back well in the next game when we beat Twente in the Champions League (qualifiers).

"For a team like Arsenal it's always good to have a good reaction. Any team can fall down but it's about how they react to defeat that matters. Tomorrow is a really good test and we will see if we can show another face. We are lucky we can play a match so soon after that and change everything in the minds of our fans.

"We want to show everyone we are still a good side. The manager, like everyone at the club, was very upset after Hull. If you want to be champions you need to win every game, especially when you play at home. We didn't perform well.

"We're professional and we know that when we play for Arsenal we can't afford to lose like that. The manager didn't have to say anything to us but he still had a few words. Every player was very sad and disappointed. We need to show we have the character to win against a big team."