Olivier Giroud: 'We are showing a lot of leadership; we have team meetings and we all want to contribute and bring qualities to the big matches'

Published: 29 October, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

OLIVIER Giroud insists Arsenal are “mentally stronger” and ready to “fight for each other” in a bid to try to land the club silverware this season. 

The Gunners will be looking to bounce back from Tuesdays disappointing ­Capital One Cup exit against Sheffield Wednesday when they travel to Wales on Saturday to face Swansea. 

Giroud, who is expected to keep his place in the side after scoring against Everton on Saturday, believes that maintaining squad unity will be key to ­competing in three different competitions over the coming months.

“I think we are stronger mentally this year,” he said. “We are all fighting for each other. 

“We have a great togetherness and we want to achieve big things together. 

“We are showing a lot of leadership; we have team meetings and we all want to contribute and bring qualities to the big matches. We are all looking in the same direction and we know we need to be 100 per cent in every game. 

“If someone is a bit tired then someone else will battle and fight for them. That’s the mentality we need to show through the season. 

“If we carry on like that then we will be difficult to beat, especially with our efficiency. I don’t want to look too far forward because we need to keep it up and carry on this momentum,” Giroud added. “It’s only the 10th game in the league so we’ve got 28 to go, so it’s a bit early. For now, we need to keep focused on what we are doing well. 

“We have a lot of confidence and we want to show that we can get stronger and stronger against the teams who come to play at the Emirates. 

“We also want to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. We’ve got big games to come, let’s see if we can keep it up.” 

Manager Arsene Wenger faces an anxious wait before naming his squad for the trip to Swansea, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott racing to recover from the respective hamstring and calf injuries that they picked up against Sheffield Wednesday.

Aaron Ramsey is at least three weeks’ away from returning from his hamstring injury, but Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are all set to return to the fold after being rested midweek.