Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has brushed off Thierry Henry's criticism as he targets his best-ever season in the Premier League.
Henry - an Arsenal club legend - suggested in April that the London-based outfit will not win England's top flight with Giroud as their principal forward, and maintained a high quality striker was needed at the Emirates Stadium.
Giroud admitted he did not initially understand the reasoning of the comments but says they will not impact his game as he aims to further contribute to the side.
Alongside Giroud, who scored 14 league goals last season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger looks set to rely on the likes of Alexis Sanchez (16), Danny Welbeck (4) and Theo Walcott (5) up front during the 2015-16 campaign.
Giroud's best Premier League haul came in 2013-14 when he scored 16 goals.
"To be honest, when you are a footballer you don't have to listen to people commenting about your performance," he said on Tuesday.
"The best thing is to forget about the comments straight away and to keep the head up and not let it affect your qualities.
"I want to score more goals than last year.
"It would be nice to score more than 20 and at least 17 in the Premier League."
Wenger agrees with Giroud's sentiments and insists "miracle" signings are not his priority.
"We have to move forward together, which for me is more important than dreaming about finding a miraculous player who wins you everything," Wenger told a media conference.
Arsenal are in Singapore ahead of their friendly against a local XI on Wednesday.
‘Arteta, Alonso, Emery, me… none of us were physical players – we needed the understanding of the game. That probably helped us move into management’: Premier League boss reveals reasons for natural career progression
‘England have the players to win the World Cup – it’ll be tough for Thomas Tuchel to do a bad job, with the squad he has at his disposal’ Former Three Lions winger backs new boss after gentle qualifying draw
