Cole attacks Poll's denial of penalty

However, Cole insisted Arsenal would not allow their 1-0 defeat against Chelsea to affect their title campaign before it has begun - as Manchester United did last season. Cole felt he deserved a penalty when he tangled with Claude Makelele and also cited suspicions of offside over Didier Drogba's winner.

"I said [to the referee Graham Poll] that it was a penalty and I thought it was a penalty. Claude said nothing. I think everyone knew it was a penalty apart from the referee," he said.

"It's hard when these kind of things happen as they can turn a game. If we'd got the penalty and scored, it would have given us a good chance and we would maybe have gone on and won the game."

The Football Association hasreceived notice of three intended wrongful dismissal claims following last weekend's games, relating to West Ham's Paul Konchesky, Sunderland's Andy Welsh and Luton's Steve Howard. With refereeing under severe scrutiny at this stage of the season, Cole said: "It's these kind of decisions that are killing teams."

"You see them week in and week out now. Of course, it's hard for the officials but it does kill the game sometimes."

Sir Alex Ferguson has reflected that United's narrow 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in Chelsea's first home game of last season ultimately cost his side the title as they never recovered their momentum. With that in mind Cole added: "Of course, if we'd have won, we'd have had a lot of confidence going into the season and they'll have a lot of confidence now.

"But we've just got to keep going, working hard as a team and training well, and hopefully we can get the results.

The Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg has escaped serious injury despite limping away from Stamford Bridge on crutches at the weekend.

Ljungberg injured his knee after colliding into advertising hoardings and was substituted midway through the first half on Sunday. Although an initial X-ray was clear, there were still fears of a hairline fracture or further damage which could have led to an absence of several weeks.

Arsenal reported: "Scans on Freddie Ljungberg's knee have revealed just bruising. The damage has not turned out to be as bad as it first appeared."

Ljungberg is still expected to miss tomorrow's home game against Fulham.