Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger maintains his young players will have learned a lot from their Carling Cup experience this season - but may not have been so impressed that frustrations got the better of them as arch-rivals Tottenham ran out comprehensive 5-1 winners at White Hart Lane.

Wenger again opted to give youth a chance but bolstered the team with captain William Gallas while Cesc Fabregas came off the bench midway through the first half after an injury to Denilson.

The Gunners had looked to build on their 1-1 draw from the first leg a fortnight ago, but just had no answer to the home side's midfield tenacity and pace in the final third.

Spurs got off to the perfect start through Jermaine Jenas inside three minutes and never looked back - with an own goal from Nicklas Bendtner before the break leaving the visitors facing and uphill task to deny their fierce rivals a first victory in more than eight years and some 21 encounters.

During the closing stages, with the tie already lost, Bendtner became involved in an altercation with team-mate Emmanuel Adebayor, who had come on as a substitute and scored his 16th goal of the campaign.

Skipper Gallas was forced to try to calm matters down, before then himself being confronted by the young Dane. Eventually, referee Howard Webb had to intervene to restore calm.

Wenger maintains he did not see the incident between his own players, which occurred at an attacking free-kick late in the second half, but Gallas admitted it did not reflect well on the team.

"They know they have made a mistake and they will have to explain why they did that," said Gallas, quoted in The Sun.

"I don't know exactly what happened. I think everyone was disappointed about the score. It was very difficult to accept.

"They are both young and nervous but they have to understand. We lost our calm."

The night, though, belonged to Spurs, who revelled in defeating their old enemy en route to a first cup final since 2002 - and all in the opening few months of manager Juande Ramos' reign.

Wenger felt there were positives to take from a "brutal" scoreline.

"It's part of a learning process," said Wenger.

"When you're a football player you have to deal with disappointments. That's part of it as well.

"You have to take it on board. It's how you respond to disappointments and it's about how you deal with it.

"I expect them not all to be ready. We live in a world where the last game is always a 'definitely conclusion'.

"It's not always as simple as that, particularly with young players."

Wenger maintained he had "no regrets" with his team selection after Arsenal failed in their attempt to reach the final for a second successive season.

"None at all," said Wenger, who insisted the competition was not a priority.

"The only regret I have is to have played the players who should not have played. I'd rather have had a completely young side, but it was good for us to see.

"We go into every season with that priority in terms of the competition. They have potential."

Wenger added: "I feel that everything went against us.

"We were always running after the score, taking risks and being at risk to the counter.

"We were not mature enough to stop the counter-attacking.

"The score is very brutal, but doesn't reflect what I've seen on the pitch.

"The first shot on goal was a goal. The second was an own goal. The third was straight after half-time.

"After that, the game was over and they could focus on defending well and catching us on the break. I don't give too much meaning to the scoreline."

Arsenal - who are currently behind Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United only on goal difference - host Newcastle in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, while holders AC Milan await in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

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