Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin says he can handle the big bruisers in the Premiership.

"I didn't expect it to be easy to adapt to English football," revealed the former Zenit St Petersburg star to the London Evening Standard. "In Russia, I never had to face such physical battles. If I jump for the ball and a defender pushes me in Russia, the whistle would blow every time. Here it never does.

"But it's up to me to change what I do on the pitch - better movement, quicker decision-making. I'm not afraid to be in a battle but if it's a Micah Richards or a Robert Huth I'm up against? I'm only half their size!

"When the defenders are that big, you can't fight them. You have to use your brain against them."