Arsene Wenger admits a lack of focus cost his young players at Burnley last night. Arsenal were beaten 2-0 at Turf Moor to exit the Carling Cup at the quarter-final stage and although his mainly teenage team showed glimpses of their talent, Wenger admits they still have much to learn.

"When you are not focused from the first minute you don't win this kind of game," he said. "We had chances but didn't put them away and at that level you pay for it.

"We had the quality to win this competition but you have to make the maximum of what you have. You have to mix intelligence and experience. We did not have the experience but could have made up for that with intelligence."

Wenger has ruled out adopting a similar policy of fielding inexperienced players in the FA Cup next month but added that some of last night's side may now move out on loan to gain more first-team experience.

Mikael Silvestre, the most experienced player on show at Burnley, hopes to see a number of the youngsters breaking through to the senior side on a regular basis before too long.

"You have got to learn and learn quickly," he said. "You have not got many opportunities to reach a quarter-final of the League Cup and they have to learn that we should have won here. Just a lack on concentration on two occasions cost us two goals."

"I think they have progressed really well. Hopefully they can prove something in training and they get the chance in the first team."

Arsenal will now turn their attention back to the Barclays Premier League having got their title bid back on track with a 2-1 defeat of Chelsea last weekend

"A win against the big four is important for the confidence," Silvestre added. "That proves we can still compete for the title. Everybody knows we slipped too many times this season and we have to get some consistency.

"The league is really tight and if you drop 10 per cent of performance the other team can beat us. The Premier League is tough and any team can beat any team."