CESC FABREGAS has brought a dose of realism to Arsenal after their enthralling 4-4 draw at Anfield by warning they will struggle to reach the Champions League final without a vast improvement in defence.

The Arsenal captain was dismayed at his team’s inability to hold on to a 90th-minute lead at Liverpool following Andrey Arshavin’s fourth goal on Tuesday, when errors leading up to Yossi Benayoun’s injury-time equaliser prompted Arsene Wenger to strike Alvaro Arbeloa with the ball in frustration.

Following Saturday’s defeat in the FA Cup semi-final, when the goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was culpable for both Chelsea goals and looked vulnerable throughout, Fabregas admitted Arsenal’s defending was an increasing cause for concern ahead of their Champions League semi-finals with Manchester United.

“From an attacking point of view we played one of the best games of the season,” he said. “It might even have been the best but defensively, we need to improve a lot if we really want to be in the Champions League final. I think we have to concentrate on that, even though it is the most difficult thing.

“When you attack you have creativity and you feel by instinct where you need to go, you do it by a feeling at that precise moment. But defensively, if you are not well positioned you will concede goals, and that’s why we have to do a lot of work on that.”

Arsenal were without Manuel Almunia, William Gallas, Gael Clichy and Johan Djourou at Anfield, but Fabregas refused to accept injuries as an excuse for conceding four.

“There are still a lot of things we know we need to work on and put right. We gave away the goals too easily. After all we’d done to create the chances and score four great goals, coming back like we did, when we concede goals like we did, it is difficult to take.”

Fabregas’s concerns were echoed by Arshavin (27), who admitted the gloss had been taken off his four-goal display by the failure to secure victory. “When we press, we play well, and when we drop back it is very dangerous for us. Then we concede corners and some tall players win the ball against us and get the second ball and try to shoot. So everybody must take responsibility for the fact we conceded four goals.”

• Guardian Service