Wojciech Szczesny has revealed that new assistant manager Steve Bould has already had an impact on the training ground.

Bould took over from Pat Rice over the summer and Szczesny revealed the former Gunners centre-back has already set about making defensive improvements.

The Polish keeper told the club's official website: "We have a new assistant manager in Steve Bould and he has been doing a lot of defensive work on the training pitch."

"So far I believe this has been very good, so hopefully we will concede less as well, which is my personal hope anyway."

Szczesny believes a terrible run of defensive injuries contributed to Arsenal conceding 49 goals in 38 league games last season and expects an improvement for the new campaign.

He said: "We didn't have a lot of luck with injuries to defenders last season. Hopefully this year we can have a settled back four, a strong bench as well, and concede less goals."

Arsenal begin their push for Premier League glory at home to Sunderland on August 18.