Arsene Wenger : About Injuries in Arsenal & Return of Olivier Giroud

"Ideally you want stability there but as you know we had Koscielny and Debuchy injured for long periods,” he said. "After that, we had Gibbs and Monreal injured as well, so there was a lot of movement in [the defence], which is not ideal."

"I feel [we are getting stronger now]. We could benefit from that because these are players who are not overloaded with games. Some of our players have played 26 or 27 games, whereas some have played four or five. These players coming back can give us some impact for the coming months.”

Giroud’s return after a three-match ban gives Wenger food for thought up front. Alexis Sanchez flourished through the middle last weekend, but the manager says that the France international has the requisite qualities to trouble the more physically imposing of Arsenal’s opponents."

"Our game is a bit more orientated on crosses [when Giroud plays] and sometimes it’s a bit more direct as well because we know we can find him and he can win headers, especially from the goalkeeper,” Wenger said."

"Both options are very interesting and sometimes one is more suited to the game than the other, so Olivier gives us something different. He’s sometimes what makes us a bit more dangerous and gives us a different pattern of play.”