ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger was full of praise for battling Burnley after the FA Cup, third round clash at Turf Moor.

The Gunners put themselves into the hat for the fourth round thanks to goals from Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner either side of half-time.

It was a scoreline that belied a brave Clarets performance that should have yielded at least one goal - particularly early on when Kyle Lafferty smacked a header off the Arsenal bar after just six minutes.

And Wenger paid tribute to Owen Coyle's side who pushed Arsenal to the limit.

He said: "I believe that Burnley played well. They missed the first chance with the header.

"And, I believe that header could have had a big weight on the game today because at 1-0, with the performance they had, it could have been a very different game.

"We took our first chance and they pushed again in the second half.

"We missed a good chance to score our second goal and after the sending off we controlled the game.

"But I must say, all credit to Burnley. They gave everything and played well. They played at a high pace and in a fair way.

"But to see where they are in the Championship, I am surprised because that division must be very difficult if they play like that every week."

And Wenger admitted that the Clarets had surprised him with the desire and the skill they showed.

He added: "What surprised me was the tempo of their game. How quickly they could pass the ball, and I thought in midfield they played very well, and on the right flank as well.

"Another thing that surprised me about Burnley is that they threw players forward. They didn't just wait for our mistakes, they tried to take the game to us.

"I enjoyed it because it's the kind of game where it was good test for young players."

But Wenger was equally full of praise for his side - a mixture of youth and experience, and particularly Croatian striker Eduardo who scored one, missed a sitter and then set the other up for striker partner Bendtner.

He said: "The surprise of the day was that Eduardo missed the other one because you get so used to your players putting the ball into the back of the net.

"But he scored one and gave an assist for the second goal."