Olivier Giroud: I’ve struggled watching Arsenal from substitutes’ bench

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has told L’Equipe that he has endured the most difficult start to a season in his career.

Giroud, 30, returned to preseason training after his teammates following his contribution to France’s run to the Euro 2016 final, and has struggled for minutes with Arsenal since.

“The coach told me that he admires me for my strength of character. I know that he supports me. But still…it mustn’t last too long or happen too often. Over time, it wears you down,” Giroud, who played the last 21 minutes of Sunday’s North London derby, said.

“Against Sunderland, I scored with my first two touches. That’s not going to happen every day. I had hoped to play against Spurs because I’d had two good games. I was a little bit disappointed, but I’m not the sort of person to just give up.”

The former Montpellier forward has made five Premier League appearances this season, all of which have been as substitute, and his two recent goals against Sunderland are his only top-flight strikes of the campaign.

A red card in the Champions League draw at Paris Saint-Germain in September, a game in which he sustained the foot injury that then sidelined him for a month, further disrupted his season.

In the meantime, Arsenal have stretched their unbeaten run to 10 games since their opening-day defeat to Liverpool.

When asked whether it had been the most difficult start to a season of his career, the former Tours and Montpellier striker, who featured in all 38 of the Gunners’ Premier League matches last season scoring 16 times, replied: “Yes, that’s possible.

“When I watched Arsenal from the stands, I saw a team that was playing well and that was having a very good start to the season, and I said to myself that the train was leaving without me and that I mustn’t get too far behind.”