Wojciech Szczesny doesn't think there's a better defender in the Premier League than Laurent Koscielny.
Having missed almost all of December through injury, the France defender came back with a convincing performance in Sunday’s 2-1 victory at West Ham United.
Szczesny was pleased to secure an “ugly win” and believes that Koscielny and Per Mertesacker suit each other perfectly in the centre of defence.
"Although they put us under a lots of pressure, the centre backs headed so many balls and made so many blocks"
“He [Koscielny] is as good as you are going to get in England,” the goalkeeper said. “I think, when he is fit and plays with Per, they make a great couple of centre backs, so having them together is great for us.
“Hopefully he can continue to play and be clear of injury.
“You don't really mind how you win games, it is all about the three points," added Szczesny. "We had to dig very deep against by far the strongest West Ham side I have ever played against.
“It was quite ugly at the end, but we got through. You have to [win ugly sometimes], especially when you come to places like West Ham.
“When it was 2-1 they put a lots of balls into the box, so it has to be ugly. We could have made it easier for ourselves and scored one of the counter-attacks, but it did not happen for us so we just had to defend and put bodies on the line. Thankfully we did that.
“Obviously it is much easier when you have got all of the players back, because we understand each other. Although they put us under a lots of pressure, the centre backs headed so many balls and made so many blocks.
“I am very happy for them because they do get some criticism sometimes.”
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