Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh is back. After a couple of months in which he was very anonymous, the Morocco International believes he can finish the season strongly.

Speaking to Arsenal TV Online, the 27-year old admitted he was not ready to feature on a regular basis in his first year in England as he explained how playing on boxing day, having no winter break and playing so many games in the months of December and January drained him and also how it was part of his learning curve ahead of next season.

Asked about resting in January, the striker said that he worked very hard in training in order to come back at his best as he added that all the hard work will pay as he is now fresh and ready to contribute in these last months of the season.

On his form, Chamakh said:

I started the season very well, then, I’m human, I played a lot of games and I got tired and for me that’s the explanation of why I had that dip of form. I rested a lot and I worked hard because I knew I would be back at my best level. I am happy because like the boss says I am working hard in training and I can see the benefits in the games.

It’s my first season in England, there is no winter break, we play on boxing day with a lot of games in a row. For me this season is to learn to see how things go, how English football is. To be honest I didn’t think that I would play many games this season.

In January I worked extra hard. In the first two weeks of the month I had stopped playing, I felt tired and I had a big dip of form in December. I believe that all the games we played in winter drained me.

I needed to rest, which I did, then I worked hard physically to come back at my best. All this hard work will pay, I can now feel already the benefits of it, I’m feeling much better and hopefully I will finish the season strongly.