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Olivier Giroud wants to be remembered as a goal-grabbing gentleman.

Arsenal top-scorer Giroud is the striker who divides opinion even among the Gunners' fans and he admits there will always be “haters.”

But the Frenchman has set an ambitious 30-goal target which would surely silence the doubters — and go a long way to helping Arsenal win the Premier League title.

When asked whether he feels undervalued, Giroud said: “I don’t question myself about that. I try so hard to give my best for the team. I want to give everything to always improve myself, that’s what I’ve been doing this year and hopefully I will reach my targets, my number of goals, to help this team to win the title.

“That’s the main thing for me. After that, you will always have haters and people who don’t like you, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it or anything like that.”

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The man signed from Montpellier in 2012 for £13m is something of a throwback, in that he is an old-fashioned English-style centre forward, and maybe some Arsenal fans want someone flashier and more expensive who is a bigger name in world football.

But Giroud is having another prolific and consistent season and he is ready for another ding-dong battle if, as expected, he faces Chelsea captain John Terry at the Emirates on Sunday.

The man with the poster-boy good looks does not mind a bruising scrap just as long as it finishes with a handshake.

Giroud has gone toe-to-toe with Stoke’s Ryan Shawcross and Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho in his last two games. He has still got the scars to prove it, and he clearly has an underlying message for Chelsea's bad-boy frontman Diego Costa.

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Last time these clubs met, in September, it became the battle of Stamford Bridge: Costa helped get Arsenal defender Gabriel sent off, the Gunners finished with nine men after Santi Cazorla also saw red and the champions took full advantage by winning all three points.

Giroud preached the need for cool heads and good behaviour on the pitch as he claimed that Chelsea will be like a wounded animal and desperate to prove they are a match for the leaders despite their own uncharacteristically low league position.

“We try to keep calm and to stay focused,” said Giroud. “The main thing is to finish with 11 men. I know sometimes it’s difficult when you consider the history of the game. It’s better to keep your nerve, as the boss says.

“It’s part of the game and sometimes some players have a lot of experience and some of them use a bit of malice.

In pictures — Chelsea beat nine-man Arsenal in September:

“Shawcross was tough with me last weekend. Sakho as well, from when we played Liverpool [four days earlier, in a game that saw a painful clash of heads between the France international team-mates]. My head can still remember it! But at the end of the game, we shook hands and wished each other the best for the future.

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“I don’t like to face some players who are nasty. I prefer to enjoy the game — even if it’s tough duels, at the end of the day we always shake hands afterwards.

“It’s important to be a gentleman on the pitch. I want people to remember me as a good football player, to be respected as a good guy and to respect your opponent on the pitch.

“To be honest, it’s very surprising to see where Chelsea are because they won the league last year with almost the same players, so it shows that the Premier League has improved.

“I don’t know because we have an expression in French: When the dog is injured, it’s even more dangerous. I don’t know if you understand but it means when you’re not doing so well, you have to be more focused on your game to be ready to do a bit more.

“The small teams on paper have improved a lot and the gap between the big teams and the smaller ones is not big any more.

In pictures — Giroud and Arsenal draw with Liverpool at Anfield:

“You always have to fight in the Premier League and that’s why I think it’s one of the best, maybe the best, championships in the world. Every game is a battle and you have to show a lot of character to win this league.”

The overwhelming target for Giroud this season is to win the Premier League.

He is proud of the fact he is one of the players in the squad to have won a championship, having helped Montpellier win it in his final season before joining Arsenal.

There is no doubt in Giroud’s mind that the North Londoners can do it and he admits he is determined to also finish as the club’s top scorer — especially as he believes the title could eventually be decided on goal difference.

(Image: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images)

Giroud added: “I would like to reach 20 goals in the Premier League, that would be nice and if I can help the team to reach our aims then I would be pleased with that. For me, it would be nice if I could reach between 25 and 30 in all the competitions.

“It’s going to be tight until the end. It could even be that goal difference makes the difference. Confrontations with the top teams will be decisive so we need to be efficient, focused and show a lot of solidarity.

“Chelsea are still a big team in the championship and we need to keep our confidence high and that’s why we need a good game and a win.”

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