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Sagna - We need to make teams scared

Bacary Sagna has urged Arsenal to start games as they mean to end them - beginning with Stoke City's visit to Emirates Stadium.

The Arsenal right back has been part of a team whose second-half performances have outshone their pre-break showings in recent weeks, with Wednesday night's game against Liverpool a case in point. He believes that an assertive, confident start to Saturday's game would serve the Gunners very well.

"Teams need to be scared to play at Emirates"

He told the official matchday programme: "From the start of the game, and from the front backwards, we need to be more aggressive.

"Teams need to be scared to play at Emirates but that's not happening at the moment, they're coming here and playing out from the back. We have to stop that, and we've shown that we can do it - against Swansea in the FA Cup, for example, I thought we were very good. We just need to do it consistently."

Taking the game straight to Tony Pulis' Stoke side would give Arsenal a decent chance of extending their 100 per cent record against the Potters since moving to their new home. Sagna has no doubts about how the task should be approached.

"We expect a proper English football game," he said.

"They don't play kick and rush as you might have seen in the old days, but they have a physical presence and we know they're dangerous on corners and free kicks. We need to be aware of it. First of all we need to stop them playing from the back, and we need to dictate the game from the start."

You can read more from the boss in the matchday programme for the Stoke City match. Click here to subscribe

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