Alexandre Lacazette says he became weighed down with a lack of confidence when he went through a goal drought that lasted ten games in the middle of the season.

The French striker scored just one goal in 14 games, and subsequently underwent surgery for a knee problem that may have been a contributory factor to his lack of form.

Speaking to L’Equipe [full translation here via GFFN), he took full responsibility for it, but admitted he found it a burden as it was not something he’d experienced previously in his career.

“I had never experienced that,” he said. At night, when I would go home, I would repeat to myself, “Come on, next time it’ll go in!” But it didn’t. And I’d only realised this after five or six matches.

“Suddenly, I started asking myself, “How long has it been since I last scored a goal?” It started to bother me.

“I don’t know how the other strikers manage, but personally, it got to my head. I couldn’t blame anyone, it was all from me.

“I couldn’t blame the coach because he was giving me my chance on the field. I couldn’t blame my teammates since chances were being created.

“It was just me.”

On his return he finished the season with a flourish, scoring 8 times in the last 10 games, but it wasn’t sufficient to get him a place in the France World Cup squad. He is on the stand-by list, but it looks as if he’ll have a summer in front of the TV and a good pre-season under his belt ahead of the new Arsenal season.