Laurent Koscielny highlighted the importance of Arsenal's win over Middlesbrough tonight.

The Gunners bounced back from last week's disappointing 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace by edging out Boro at the Riverside Stadium, playing largely with a 3-4-2-1 system.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil either side of Alvaro Negredo's equaliser saw Arsene Wenger's men return to sixth on the Premier League table, where they sit seven points behind the top four.

"It was important to have the three points, we were in a bad situation," he told Sky Sports after playing in a three-man defence alongside Gabriel and Rob Holding.

"We had to come back with quality, it was not perfect but we tried and it's good to come back with the win.

"It's good for confidence, which will come back slowly. We are intelligent, we have experience to play a different system."