Olivier Giroud has spoken out about his ‘poor’ form recently for both club and country and has admitted that perhaps he does need to toughen up a bit.

The striker has lost out on his starting spot in the first 11 to Theo Walcott after a run of bad form and was booed off the pitch recently by France fans after an international match.

Despite not performing as well as he’d like, the Frenchman has admitted that Theo does deserve his current place in the team.

“It is something new for me,” Giroud said.

“Whether it was at Tours, Montpellier or Arsenal, I have never experienced a situation like this, I have often played from the start. I need to take positives and to harden myself mentally. I cannot simply take refuge in work.

“At Arsenal, I am in competition with Theo (Walcott) for the striker position. But he is doing well at the moment, so there is no reason to change. I was in his place in previous seasons at Arsenal. I imagine what he must have been thinking. But I feel that the coach believes in me.”

He added, “It has been for several matches now that I have played less, that is for sure, but I do not need to be worried. I need a bit more game time but also to believe more in my abilities.”

Walcott has now scored four goals and assisted four in 11 appearances for the Gunners, while Giroud has scored three. Therefore, it’s difficult to make a case for Giroud starting. When Theo is not only scoring but assisting, he’s a huge part of the team and has been playing out of his skin recently.

Ideally, having two in form striker would be wonderful, but for the moment at least Giroud has the time to work through whatever issues he may be facing, safe in the knowledge that Theo is scoring.