Laurent Koscielny has claimed that Arsenal teammate Olivier Giroud is reaping the rewards of remaining "hungry" during his spell out of the side.

Giroud kicked off the scoring as Arsenal kept pace with Premier League leaders Manchester City by beating Swansea City 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

It added to crucial goals Giroud scored against Watford, Bayern Munich and Everton in recent weeks, and Koscielny is delighted to see his fellow Frenchman performing so impressively.

"I think he works very hard because he did not play a lot of games in September and October and I think he was hungry," the centre-back, who also found the net against Swansea, told the club's website. "He trained hard to be back and to play and you saw him against Bayern, he came on to the pitch and did well.

"Against Everton as well you saw it was important to keep a positive mentality as a team for your team win. We have the quality up front to make the difference."

Arsene Wenger's side return to action against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.