Arsene Wenger praised Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the wake of his match-winning brace on Tuesday night.

The 23-year-old forward scored in the 33rd and 78th minutes as the Gunners cruised past Championship club Reading in the fourth round of the EFL Cup to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Oxlade-Chamberlain now has five goals in all competitions this term - his most in a season for the Gunners - prompting Wenger to comment on his promising form of late.

"Sometimes you felt like he didn't deserve to score when he was in front of goal before," he said, as quoted by Arsenal.com.

"Now, I think he has added some belief to his finishing.

"Now we have hope that whenever he has the ball, something can happen. He's powerful but he also finishes well and he's added that to his game."

Regarding the England international's role at Arsenal, Wenger feels he continues to be a key part of the senior squad despite being in and out of the starting XI.

"He's not a long way away from the starting XI because he played against Ludogorets (in the Champions League last week), he played here which was expected, but Ludogorets was a very important game," he added.

"He came on against Middlesbrough on Saturday and I feel that he is regularly involved."