Rob Holding admitted Arsenal were complacent in their second leg defeat to Ostersunds FK in the last 32 of the Europa League at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners lost 2-1 on the night but go through to the last 16 after winning 4-2 on aggregate.
Calum Chambers’ own goal and Ken Sema’s powerful finish gave the Swedish side a shock 2-0 lead inside 23 minutes and they threatened to cancel out Arsenal’s 3-0 lead on numerous occasions.
Sead Kolasinac’s emphatic finish gave Arsenal breathing space in the tie but Arsene Wenger’s side were lacklustre throughout and were unable to turn the game around.
Holding’s and co face Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, a game you can listen to live on talkSPORT, but despite the poor preparation for this weekend’s game, the defender remained positive.
Speaking to talkSPORT’s Ian Abrahams after the game, Holding said: “I think maybe it might have been a bit of complacency but we tried to start the game positively because we knew it would be a tough game. they play nice football.
“It was panic stations because they scored in the 21st and 23rd minute so we needed to sort that out. We were able to see out the rest of the first-half and we got going in the second-half with the early goal.
“We got through but it would have been better to go through with a clean sheet and more goals and getting the win. We didn’t do that bit still getting through is the most important thing.
Arsenal will learn who they will face in the last 16 of the tournament on Friday and Holding suggested they could go all the way despite tonight’s below par performance.
He added: “We want to win the tournament so we have to get through the big teams but we’ll have to see what we get in the next round and we’ll just attack it in the right way.”