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Boss on Poldi, Giroud, Ozil and victory

Arsene Wenger faced the media after Arsenal's 3-1 win over West Ham United. This is a transcript of his press conference:

on a big victory…
Yes, we were tested mentally, but I think we were strong. We were united, disciplined, determined, and despite being 1-0 down - I couldn't see where we could be 1-0 down - it was a big blow but we responded well. Overall you could feel that the team was absolutely focused from the first to the last minute. We built slowly a win that I think was normal.

on his strikers…
When the team went through a bad patch with a lack of confidence, because some results went against us, the first to suffer are the strikers in a period like that, so you have to slowly rebuild that with results and with resilience.

on his team selection…
It was a gamble but I said before the game as well that it was the oldest team certainly that I've ever played at Arsenal. I trusted the experience of the players because… tonight it was an unusual around-30 team, and that experience of course helps when you are a little bit backs against the wall.

"It was the oldest team certainly that I've ever played at Arsenal. I trusted the experience of the players"

on Giroud's technique for his goal…
It was a perfect first touch. You need that if you want to score the goal. What I like is that he used his upper body first to make some space, and despite that he managed to have a great first touch, and after that he finished well.

on Giroud's tribute to Hillsborough…
Yes, Olivier is a great guy with a great mentality. He has gone through a difficult period, as you know, and I think it affected his game for a while and his confidence. I hope that what happened tonight… you could see that he was refreshed tonight and that he was up for it. At half-time he came in, he was very very down because he missed a great chance in the first half, but he responded very well in the second half because he's mentally a strong guy.

on playing two up front…
I am tempted but I have so many offensive players, who all want to go in the middle, and Lukas is the only one who is really a wide player. Rosicky is a central player, Cazorla is basically a central player, and when you don't have Walcott it's very difficult to do that.

on whether Podolski wants to play centrally…
I played him centre forward a few times and I felt he came a lot to the ball, more like an off-striker than a target striker. But he is a fantastic finisher because he has unbelievable power and a very short backlift. So the one you want to have a chance is him.

on keeping Podolski on for 90 minutes…
I didn't, no. First of all you do not always substitute players linked with the performance, sometimes yes, on Saturday yes, but sometimes not, sometimes you want to change tactically, sometimes you want a better defensive balance when you're 3-1 up. It depends, it is always a different reason.

on the impact of this win…
It improves the confidence of the team. Saturday and tonight improves the confidence of the team, but we know we have one advantage - the picture is very clear in front of us. We have compulsory wins in front of us. We want to do it of course.

on whether four wins will be enough...
It doesn't depend solely on us but it's a good chance that if we win all our games it's possible, yes.

on the Jarvis penalty incident…
I am grateful [that Jarvis stayed on his feet]. Yes, I don't think it was a penalty, but he touched him, yes. Can you be too honest? I leave you that judgment, I think you want people to be honest. It didn't look to me a penalty but maybe if he had made a theatrical dive he would have got it. I don't know.

"Ozil should be available for the weekend"

on coping with the expectations…
In the Premier League, if you can find me some easy games I am taking them, but I haven't seen some this season. We know we have to win our games and hope that Everton will slip up somewhere. Let's focus on our job and not look too much at Everton. If we need that we'll see when we need it, but at the moment we can only do it if we win our games, so let's focus on that.

on Abou Diaby…
Abou is back in full training on Thursday. It's very difficult to say [if he will play this season] because he has not played for over a year now, and it's very difficult for me [to decide]. He looks physically fine, but he has to play one or two games before I consider bringing him back.

on Mesut Ozil…
Ozil should be available for the weekend.

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