Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna believes his injury absence has improved him as a player

The French international was delighted with the reception he received following his return to the Gunners' first-team following four months out with a broken leg

2 Feb 2012 19:24:00

By Simon Sinclair

More On :  Arsenal FC, Bacary Sagna, Arsenal FC vs Blackburn Rovers
Bacary Sagna, Arsenal
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Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna believes watching games from the stands whilst injured has given him a new perspective, one that he hopes will improve him as a footballer.

The Frenchman broke his leg in the Gunners' 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in October but made his return to Arsene Wenger’s side for the first time in four months in last weekend’s FA Cup 3-2 victory over Aston Villa.

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"I’ve watched many games, Arsenal and others, and when you’re standing with the crowd it’s totally different," he told the club's official website.

"You can see open spaces that you can’t when you’re on the pitch because the angles are different. What looks easy when you’re watching a game is often more difficult on the pitch, and you realise why supporters get nervous when you do certain things. I think I understand that more now.

"I always look at other right backs, what they do well and what they don’t, so hopefully I’ve picked up some new things for my game too."

The 28-year-old also expressed his delight with the reception he received from the Arsenal fans on his return to the team and spoke of the difficulties of a long-term injury.

He added: "The reception I got [against Aston Villa] was amazing, just amazing. I was not expecting everyone to give me a standing ovation, but it gave me confidence straight away. As long as I’m playing for Arsenal I’m very happy, and I will always give my best for this team.

"It was quite a long time out and you go through many states. You have to accept the injury first of all, and after that you have to work hard to come back. I’ve done that and am very glad to be back with the team again.

"I was still excited about it all and came to every home game [while I was injured. I’ve been supporting my team passionately - I remember the Chelsea away game, it was just crazy and I was desperate to be celebrating with my team-mates at the end.”

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

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20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!

19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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