Eboue "didn’t want to kill" Ridgewell

The Ivory Coast international, who was spoken to by referee Martin Atkinson following his side's 2-1 victory, said that he will be more careful in future, but insisted that he "did not want to kill” his opponent with the tackle that earned him a yellow card.

"When I tackled him I didn't want to kill him," Eboue said in The Mirror.

"When I did that tackle I didn't go through the back. I just wanted to touch the ball.

"The referee spoke to me after the game and said 'Emmanuel I know you touched the ball but the tackle was very dangerous'. I just said 'OK, no problem'. Next time I will be more careful."

The game at Emirates Stadium, which was settled by Marouane Chamakh’s goal just after half-time, saw Jack Wilshere dismissed late on for a lunging challenge on Nikola Zigic.

The red card - the third for the Gunners this season – leaves the club with one of the poorest disciplinary records in the league.

However, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger told reporters that his side aren’t dirty, an assessment Eboue agreed with.

"We are not a dirty team," he said.

"Everyone knows we like to play football and make everyone happy when we play and we like to score."

By Martin Smith