Lukasz Fabianski says he's a better goalkeeper now and has shown he's "up for it" when the battle to be Arsenal's No 1 resumes.
The Polish international was a surprise inclusion in Arsene Wenger's side for the Champions League tie at Bayern Munich in March but showed his mettle with a flawless performance in the Allianz Arena as the German giants were beaten 2-0.
"I'm feeling really positive about it [the battle to be No 1]. I feel that I'm a better keeper than I was, I feel really confident in myself"
Lukasz Fabianski
Fabianski helped Arsenal to five wins in five matches before his rib injury opened the door for Wojciech Szczesny to return to the first team. The younger Pole has impressed in recent weeks but Fabianski feels closer to the No 1 spot than ever before.
"I'm hoping that it's going to go my way," he told Arsenal Player. "I'm feeling really positive about it [the battle to be No 1]. I feel that I'm a better keeper than I was, I feel really confident in myself.
"I put in a lot of work to be fit again, to be stronger. I'm not worried about anything and I think I've made a statement that I'm up for it."
Fabianski kept a clean sheet against Bayern just weeks before they put seven goals past Barcelona over the two legs of their Champions League semi-final. The 28-year-old certainly took plenty of positives from his display in Munich.
"I had a chance to play my first game against Bayern Munich on the big stage and as a team we did really well," he said. "I helped the team as well, I'm really happy that I was back, fit again and that I had a chance to show myself on the big stage.
"It's all about confidence. I think it gave me a boost but I was really prepared for that. I didn't see any difference in my confidence before the game and after the game and before the next game. I think it was on the same level.
"It's just getting that feeling of playing good again, getting the result and that always gives you a positive feeling about yourself for the next game. It gave me a boost but I was confident even before the game.
"As a team we did really well. Defensively we are communicating well, we're defending as a team, we're tracking back all the midfield players. We're aware of the set-pieces. You could see it clearly that as a team we were prepared well."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
