Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is keen to keep the pressure away from Olivier Giroud.

The France international has yet to find the net since joining from Montpellier and was named among the substitutes for Saturday's 6-1 mauling of Southampton, against whom he failed to make an impact when he came on.

"I felt that he is under much pressure at the moment and sometimes to get a little breather is good," Wenger said of his countryman.

"What I will do on Tuesday [when Arsenal travel to Montpellier in the Champions League] I honestly don't know.

"I just felt that the time has come for him to not be under too much pressure."