Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri is bristling over suggestions they were too soft to handle Stoke City's up-and-at-'em approach on Saturday.

The French youngster told France Football: "People have seen me fighting back in our games against Newcastle and Sunderland, but I have always been like this.

"I know how to earn respect. I am an impulsive person, and in English football more than anywhere else you need to mark out your territory straight away. There are far more clashes than in the French game.

"I don't like it at all when someone disrespects me. I'll trade blows with anyone.

"That is the way I am. I don't like letting people tread on my toes."