'We've thrown it away' - Kyle Walker criticises Man City for 'wasting' Arsenal opportunity

Kyle Walker admits all of Manchester City's hard work at Arsenal this week feels "wasted" after the Blues couldn't back it up with another three points at Nottingham Forest.

City moved top of the Premier League for the first time since November with victory at Arsenal, albeit having played a game more, and had hopes of extending their lead when the Gunners were struggling at Aston Villa. However, two late goals for Arsenal put the pressure on City, and despite 23 attempts at the City Ground, Chris Wood's late equaliser earned a point for Forest.

Walker said the result was "unacceptable" and argued the defence bore as much responsibility for the dropped points as their wasteful attacking teammates. City now turn their attention to the Champions League, with Walker challenging the dressing room to ensure there are no more repeats of the Forest performance.

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"It feels like all the hard work on Wednesday has probably gone to waste," Walker said. "Hopefully this point can put us in good stead at the end of the season.

"You do all that hard work and for a Manchester City side to have 36 per cent possession - to graft that out and put in a very solid performance at the Emirates against a tough team - to then come here and draw, we’ve thrown it away. We’re not down and we’re not out - we’ll keep going and keep fighting until the very end and put this as a blip.

"We know it’s not acceptable as a team and hopefully now that’s our blips done, and we can go on now.”

"You need to take your chances. We were under par. There were enough chances we should have taken today. That’s not blaming anyone. We need to defend better as a team. We