Koscielny - It was tough to watch

Laurent Koscielny has revealed how difficult it was for him to watch Arsenal play from the sidelines.

The France defender returned from injury against West Ham United on Sunday and was praised by Arsene Wenger for “stabilising” the Gunners’ defence after three weeks out.

Mathieu Debuchy also came back this month and Koscielny is confident the returning players can help Arsenal build on their fine Christmas form in the New Year.

“For players it’s very important to be on the pitch,” the defender told Arsenal Player. “I spent a long time without football and it was very hard for me to stay and watch my team play. I’m very happy to come back with my team-mates on the pitch and to play football.

“[West Ham] was not an easy game, it was a tough game. It was an English game because it was box-to-box and I think the last 20 minutes was amazing because each team tried to win the game.

“At the back we needed to be focused on our job and I think we did well. During this period over Christmas it’s very important to win and we did well with three wins, so we need to keep this going and keep focused for the New Year.

“Now the players who have been injured are coming back so it’s good for the team when you have all the players with you and fit. We have a bigger squad so I hope we will not have a lot of injuries in 2015 and we can finish this season well.”