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Instead, the Ivory Coast international has claimed he was "scared" by the prospect of taking on the newly-promoted Yorkshire side due to the level of expectation resting on the Gunners' shoulders.

Goals from Geovanni and Daniel Cousin were enough to condemn the home side to a defeat that Arsene Wenger revealed left him feeling physically sick, although his side have a chance to put things right in tonight's Champions League clash with Porto in north London.

Toure said: "I was scared to play the game. Sometimes people, not the players, play the game before it has started and that is a problem because there are no small teams in the Premiership.

"Against Manchester United, everyone thinks it is going to be a tight game but when you play against Hull it is harder because you are expected to win. But it doesn't happen like that. I was scared against Hull because there are no easy games."

Meanwhile, Tigers manager Phil Brown has leapt to the defence of referees after another weekend of high-profile mistakes put the spotlight on the officials.

Penalties for Manchester United at home to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday and Wigan Athletic when hosting Manchester City 24 hours later led to both Gary Megson and Mark Hughes to call for the introduction of television replays.

A red card handed to Everton's Tim Cahill also caused controversy over the weekend but Brown, whose own Hull City side were on the end of a debatable decision when drawing 2-2 against the Toffees the weekend before last, has defended the role of the referees.

He said: "If we highlight the Cahill incident, that was definitely not a red card but there were two or three on Saturday that were right.

"You can't take away the human element of the referee."

The Hull manager, following his side's 2-1 victory over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, is now attempting to keep a tight hold on expectation levels at the KC Stadium.

He added: "We were bottom of the Championship 18 months ago. We have won three games and that's probably two or three more than people expected us to win.

"We keep our feet on the ground but we are an ambitious group. To be a Premier League club is a fantastic achievement, to be one at the end of this season would also be a fantastic achievement. But there is a level of consistency required."