"A little misunderstanding had a great consequence on the game and both players are destroyed. I blame no-one".
"When these things happen late in the game there is no time to rectify it."
"We have to wait a little bit longer for a trophy. It is very hard to take.
"It was a lack of communication, determination a little bit as well. Like always, when the ball is in no-man's land, someone has to take responsibility and go for it. What was amazing was that no-one was going for the ball from Birmingham."
"I am bitterly disappointed, like the whole team. We had some problems to start the game, the number of games we played caught up a little bit on us. It took us a while to get into the rhythm and pace of the game.
"In the second half we were on top, unfortunately we couldn't score the second goal and, in the end, we made a mistake that left us no time at all to respond."
"Congratulations to Birmingham, they took advantage of the mistake and they took the trophy which hurts us tremendously," said Wenger.
"We have to be proud of our attitude, continue with our belief, pick ourselves up and face the other challenges we have. We will face a lot of questions after that mistake tonight, but we have to be strong enough to stand up.
"It is a good opportunity to show that we have the mental strength to respond to the situation like that."
"It is a massive disappointment for the team, but we have massive challenges in front of us - the Carling Cup is four games, five games but a championship season is 38. We will not throw 38 games away because of one game.
"I am confident we have the character and this is a good opportunity to show it."
Both teams gave everything. Congratulations to them - they got the trophy
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
"The players are disappointed but we have to pick ourselves up, that's what a team is about. It's a good opportunity to show our mental strength which I think is great.
"We got what we expected from Birmingham - they are a team who fight very hard and cause a lot of problems from long balls.
"Both teams gave everything. Congratulations to them - they got the trophy - but we have regrets with the way we conceded the (Martins) goal.
"What can you say? You have to be positive because he (Szczesny) is a young boy. He has to pick himself up from that goal and hopefully he can do that."
Wenger revealed striker Robin van Persie, who equalised for the Gunners in the first half after Nikola Zigic put the Blues ahead, suffered a knee injury after the break.
"We are in good positions everywhere but we play so many games and we can't go on losing players" said the Frenchman.
"We lost Cesc Fabregas in the week and now Van Persie is not in good shape after this game. It's a knee problem - we will have to assess it on Monday."
In the aftermath of the defeat some of Arsenal's players, including club captain Fabregas - missing with an injured hamstring - used the social networking site Twitter to offer their apologies and ask for the fans' continued support:
Cesc Fabregas:
"Congratulations to Birmingham. This team has great potential and there are still great targets to play for this season. Thanks for your support."
Robin van Persie:
"I'm very sorry that we didn't bring Carling Cup back to north London! Thanks for your support today! Sorry again!"
Bacary Sagna:
"Just feel ashamed... sorry."
Jack Wilshere:
"All I can say is sorry to the fans. It hurts a lot I know but we must all stick together, still in three other comps! We have to move on! Sorry."
Source: BBC Sport
Source: BBC Sport