The Arsenal boss accused the Potters' players of attempting to deliberately injure his side during City's 2-1 win at the Britannia Stadium last Saturday.

Wenger was similarly critical of Bolton during Brown's time as assistant to Sam Allardyce, although the Tigers manager has since come to rely on less physical attributes during his time at KC Stadium.

And he insists that while Stoke's game might be based more on muscle than technique, they were not guilty of over-stepping the mark against the north Londoners.

Brown used the example of the game between Bolton and Arsenal at the Reebok Stadium on September 20, after which Gunners left-back Gael Clichy claimed Trotters striker Kevin Davies should have been sent off for a hard tackle on him, as another example of Wenger's team being averse to a physical challenge.

He said: "If you go back to the Bolton v Arsenal game at the Reebok Stadium, that tackle on Gael Clichy by Kevin Davies, there was nothing wrong with that, it was a physical challenge from a physical player.

"If you stamp that out of the game then the game's finished, we might as well all just enjoy tippy-tappy five-a-side."

Asked if Stoke went too far, he added: "Not at all. I saw a typical Stoke performance, and a typical Arsenal performance. There was nothing wrong with it at all."

Heading into Saturday's home clash with Bolton - where Brown enjoyed success as a player and coach before opting to leave in pursuit of a career in management - the Tigers have been forced to deal with their first consecutive league defeats of the season.

Given the opponents were Chelsea and Manchester United, that may be no surprise, but it is the first time it has happened to Brown's men since last December, when they were thumped by Preston and Southampton in the Coca-Cola Championship.

After a run of four straight victories before the Chelsea match, however, Brown insists his team's setback could prove a welcome reality check during a season which has so far surpassed all expectations.

"The last time it happened to us, we did go back to hard work, just in case anybody did think this was becoming easy - four wins on the bounce and you might start thinking that way.

"The last time it happened was the first week of December last year and we went on a tremendous unbeaten run over Christmas."

Hull fought back from 4-1 down to run champions United close at Old Trafford last Saturday, in a game that ended in a 4-3 defeat.

Brown suggested earlier this week that his players had been guilty of paying the Red Devils too much respect early on, but he believes they learned some valuable lessons against the kings of Europe.

"You learn sometimes you can compete with these big boys on the biggest stage. But when they decide to turn on the gas, any side in the world would be in trouble," he said.

"But in the second half we turned up the gas, we showed each other what we're capable of doing.

"Did we grow up during the game? You learn that if you stand off anybody, anybody can play, let alone the best players in the world.

"But to rock United on their own ground was a half-decent thing to do."