The Gunners hit the bar early on through Abou Diaby's deflected header, but despite plenty of possession could not find a away through with Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor missing two good chances in the second half.

Wenger decided to leave leading scorer Robin van Persie on the bench for more than an hour, but felt it was just one of those afternoons where effort was not rewarded.

"We gave everything for 90 minutes and restricted them to nothing," said the Arsenal boss.

"There was a great desire and I could not fault the spirit, but we did lack some creativity in the final ball and some sharpness because we had played a difficult game on Wednesday night at Everton."

The Gunners may have not lost in 10 Barclays Premier League games, but they remain well adrift in the title race and, crucially, outside the top four behind Aston Villa, who also could only manage a goalless draw today.

Some boos rang out around the stadium at the final whistle, and Wenger can "understand" the frustrations of the supporters.

He said: "Fans want to win the game and when you do not win, they are not happy, we understand that."

Wenger, whose side face an FA Cup replay against Cardiff on Tuesday night, defended his decision to leave in-form Van Persie on the bench.

"It was done not to get him injured," said Wenger.

"We have to be cautious with him and he had played every minute against Cardiff and also Everton.

"We have bad experiences when we pushed him to play lots of games."

Arsenal lost both Emmanuel Eboue and Diaby to thigh injuries, but Wenger hopes neither are too severe - although midfielder Diaby looks set for a couple of weeks on the sidelines.

Much has been made of the protracted transfer saga of Russian international Andrei Arshavin from Zenit St Petersburg.

The deal will be concluded one way or another by close of business on Monday.

"Nothing is happening - maybe, maybe not. It doesn't worry me either way," said Wenger, who insisted the player was not on his way to London to finalise the deal.

"We are not far away and we have a bit of time now until Monday night.

"We will see what we can do in the next 24 hours.

"I don't know if I am confident or not. With the experience I have, anything can happen in a transfer."

Wenger, though, rejected suggestions Arshavin would be the answer to all of Arsenal's creative problems.

"He can unlock defences and maybe we needed him today but we have other players who can do that, who are not available at the moment but who could be in the next two months, like (Theo) Walcott and (Cesc) Fabregas."

The Hammers, meanwhile, continued their own unbeaten run which now stands at eight games in all competitions with 14 from a possible 18 points.

Nevertheless, the visitors were restricted to just a couple of half chances, with a header from James Collins cleared off the line late in the first half and Carlton Cole finally forcing a save from Manuel Almunia after 76 minutes.

"It was good. We kept our shape and defended well but it's just a shame we couldn't create a bit more," said assistant manager Steve Clarke.

"The team played very well as a whole, the work ethic was fantastic and every defender played well."

Clarke insisted: "We didn't come here just to defend, but sometimes you end up doing that against very good sides."

The Hammers have been busy in the transfer market, with new signing Savio Nsereko coming on this afternoon.

Radoslav Kovac, the Czech Republic midfielder, is the latest arrival and Clarke hinted at the possibility of more fresh faces before the deadline.

"There will be no more departures before Monday but we would like one more body if possible, probably in midfield," he said.