Coquelin relishing Arsenal opportunity

​Francis Coquelin is determined to take his chance in the Arsenal first team after making his first Premier League start since January 2013.

The 23-year-old midfielder has struggled to break into Arsene Wenger’s side since making his debut in 2008, and was out on loan at Charlton Athletic earlier this month.

However, Arsenal’s injury problems saw the Frenchman recalled by Wenger and he has made four appearances since.

His first start came against West Ham on Sunday, and he is now looking to push on and cement a regular place at the Emirates Stadium.

He said: “It’s been a long time for me without [starting] in the Premier League, but I think the loan at Charlton was very good for me and helped me a lot.

“I got a lot of games under my belt, and I’d like to thank Charlton for that.

“Now I’m back here and I tried to give 100 per cent to help the team. We won [against West Ham], so it was a good performance.

“I’m happy to be here and to get minutes. Today was my first start and we got a win, so now we’ll just move on to the next one and see what happens.”

Coquelin will hope his performance at Upton Park – where Arsenal won 2-1 – will see him handed another start when they travel to Southampton on Thursday.