Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hit back at Tottenham for their comments on the decision to delay last weekend's north London derby.
The Gunners were unable to meet the minimum requirements for Sunday's clash as they didn't have 13 outfield players fit and available to face the Lillywhites before the Premier League decided to postpone the highly-anticipated match.
Spurs reacted to the decision by admitting they were shocked in a strongly-worded club statement, something Arteta was far from impressed with.
Speaking about the decision, the Spaniard said: "We didn’t have the players necessary to put a squad that was able to compete in a Premier League match. That is 100% guaranteed.
"But I think this situation is a no-win situation. When we played the first three games of the season, while other teams were postponing matches, and we played and we tried to play, we were killed because people said ‘don’t be naive because you have that many players out don’t play with your kids’.
"Now we postpone the match for all the right reasons believe me and as well you get those reactions. But I think they are normal."
"I don’t know if I understand (the criticism). What I’m telling you is what we’ve done. When other teams have come to us and said we cannot play and we need the game to be postponed, we have never, ever publicly questioned any of that.
"And we will not because that’s why we have the Premier League the FA and the regulators to consider and to find out and to do the due diligence necessary – which is a lot – to try to postpone the match and maintain the fairness of the competition.
"We will defend our club with teeth and nails. We’re not going to get anybody damaging our name or trying to lie about things that haven’t occurred. When we make mistakes we’ll put our hands up, but we will defend our club in a really strong way."
