Tomas Rosicky has one main ambition at Arsenal this season — to stay fit.The Czech midfielder believes if he can shake off the niggling injuries that blighted his first campaign at Emirates Stadium then he play a key role this term.
Rosicky made an emotional return to Sparta Prague this week for a game he admitted he did not really want to play. Afterwards he talked about the season ahead.
“I just want to stay healthy,” he said “I feel that if I can stay injury-free, then I can be an important player for Arsenal.
“Last season, whenever I felt great, I got injured which was difficult for me. Now I feel OK again and we know that we have to score from midfield more.
“It was great that Cesc and Alex scored again [against Sparta]. I hope that next time I will be there as well, but the most important thing was that we won and we now have one foot in the Champions League.
“It was a good result for us, but we are still not there. We have to make the second step. They are very aggressive, and we will need to do well again in the other leg. We have to stay focused.”
Rosicky got the warmest of receptions at the Axa Arena when he was substituted with 10 minutes to go. It ended a tough night for the 26-year-old.
“It was really strange for me because I grew up there and Sparta prepared me for my future career. I really did not want to play against them.