Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger turned on reporters after his side's bid for the English Premier League title suffered a setback with a 1-1 draw away to Birmingham.

Wenger has often suggested the perception his talented side can be 'bullied' out of a match by less skilful opponents means the Gunners get subjected to an excessive number of bad tackles.

The Arsenal boss made his feelings clear about a challenge by Birmingham's Craig Gardner on Gunners skipper Cesc Fabregas, which left the Spaniard with a knee injury that threatens the midfielder's participation in next week's Champions League quarterfinal with Barcelona.

"How is Fabregas? I don't know," Wenger said after Saturday's match. "We will have to assess him tomorrow (Sunday). But it was a bad tackle, one more. He got tackled at the knee, kicked just under the knee."

But asked if his team had been the victim of several poor challenges, the frustrated Frenchman said: "Am I suggesting there were a lot of bad tackles? Leave me alone with that...

"You (the press) are always looking for controversy, you do not need me to tell you what happened on the pitch. I can give you my opinion about our game but you always create this controversy."

It was at Birmingham where Arsenal's title challenge in 2008 was derailed by a draw that saw Gunners striker Eduardo suffer a serious leg break following a tackle by Martin Taylor.