Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud is determined to show his character and earn a spot back in Frank Lampard's Blues team, after falling out of favour.
While Chelsea enjoyed a good afternoon on Sunday with a 4-1 win against Southampton, there was one man who had a frustrating one after being left out of the matchday squad, in the shape of Giroud.
The French striker had to watch on from the stands for a third consecutive time in the Premier League as fellow strikers Abraham and Batshuayi found the back of the net at St. Mary's.
Although Batshuayi being named ahead of him in the squad three times in-a-row in the league is a cause of concern for Giroud, the former Arsenal man is refusing to be down by being left out of the squad and feels he should turn the frustration into positive energy to bounce back.
Giroud has vowed to fight to get back in the team and show his character, but feels he needs to stay focused in training to do that, admitting it is hard to replace the in-form Abraham in the team.
“There are two reactions to being left out of the side”, Giroud told The Athletic.
“There is one where you put your head down, start complaining that you’re not playing. The other way is you transform that frustration over not playing into a positive energy.
"You need to maintain a good feeling to bounce back, to show your character. That is what I try to do at training every day.
“I’m a competitor. It takes a lot more to get me down. I will always fight to get back in the team."
Giroud admits he has not spoken to Lampard about his situation as he understands the Chelsea manager will stick with the in-form striker.
"Have I spoken to Frank? No, not yet. I have nothing to say, because Tammy is doing so well.
"It is difficult to get a striker out of the team when he is being this successful and scoring regularly.
“I just have to stay focused, to keep concentrating on what I have to do in training and show I’m ready for whenever the manager needs me.”
Giroud has made five appearances across all competitions for Chelsea so far this season, starting just two of them, and has one goal to his name.
