FORMER Gunner Sol Campbell said he would have been embarrassed to have formed part of a defence that shipped as many goals as Arsenal did last season.

And the 39-year-old also told a Hay Festival audience that Arsene Wenger's side would not win the league next season with their current squad.

"You need to have the squad to absorb the injuries and suspensions that come up in any season," he said last night.

And it seems as though the defensive areas are one place he would focus on strengthening.

"I would have been embarrassed to have let in the amount of goals they conceded against the big teams," he added.

"But I'm not sure some of the players feel that way."

Sol was interviewed by Jasper Rees and responded to questions that began with his tough upbringing alongside nine brothers and two sisters in an East London home.

No questions were asked about the recent controversy surrounding Sol's claim in his authorised biography that his chances of captaining England more would have enhanced had he been white.

He did, however, say that his nationality cost him a possible place in a European Championship semi-final.

Sol said that the referee would have allowed his disallowed effort to stand in 2004 had he been Portuguese - and not English.

And he also explained his reasons for leaving Tottenham for their rivals Arsenal.

Sol played the final match of one season against Manchester United and watched his fellow England colleagues celebrate another title triumph together.

Knowing that the mismanagement and lack of ambition present at White Hart Lane would prevent him from challenging his United opponents, he made the switch across North London. A move that few would let him forget.

Sol told the packed crowd that he was not your typical footballer. His open and honest responses, which avoided the clichés so prevalent on the Match of the Day sofa, left the audience in little doubt.