Toure wants Porto to suffer Arsenal backlash

Arsenal defender Kolo Toure has told his team-mates to use the bitter memory of their embarrassing defeat by Hull to spark a backlash against Porto on Tuesday.

Arsene Wenger admitted he felt sick after watching Saturday's shock 2-1 loss against the Premier League newcomers and the Gunners boss is threatening to make sweeping changes when Porto visit the Emirates Stadium.

But Toure believes Arsenal can go someway towards making amends if they defeat the Portuguese champions and the Ivory Coast international expects an immediate reaction in the Champions League tie.

“We can't just think about Hull. It's true we lost and didn't play well,” he said.

“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.

“This 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.

“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.”

Toure denied that complacency had contributed to Arsenal's loss and he even claimed he was scared by the prospect of playing one of the Premier League's minnows.

“I was scared to play the game. 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,” Toure said.

“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.”