Olivier Giroud has been named Barclays Premier League Player of the Month for March, the first Arsenal player to receive the award since Aaron Ramsey in September 2013.

The 28-year-old forward played every minute of Arsenal's four league games last month, scoring five times, adding one assist and helping the side to four wins.

"I’m really pleased with it," Giroud told Arsenal Player. "I would like to thank my team-mates and of course the fans, because it’s a collective sport and I couldn’t do it on my own.

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"It’s a great honour to have been selected as Player of the Month, especially because we wanted to bounce back from the Champions League disappointment.

"That’s what we’ve done and we’ve come back really strongly. We all want to finish strongly and this award will give me more confidence for the following games."

It's the 28th time an Arsenal player has been named Premier League Player of the Month, second only to Manchester United (32) and six more than third-placed Liverpool.

Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry have the most awards while representing the club - four each - and Giroud is the 19th different Arsenal player to win it. David Seaman was the first to scoop the honour for the Gunners, back in April 1995.

Giroud's impressive month has taken his seasonal tally in the league to 13 goals - neck and neck with Alexis - and the Frenchman says he is enjoying the duel with his fellow forward.

"Yeah, but it’s a 'battle' in a nice and good spirit," he said. "I joke with Alexis about it in Spanish. We are in good form, all of us. I’ve scored 13 goals in the Premier League and so has Alexis, so we’ll have a good fight until the end."