Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud left out of France squad as he pays the price for absence from Gunners first team

Benched: Olivier Giroud has struggled for regular minutes with Arsenal this season
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James Benge30 September 2016

Olivier Giroud has paid the price for his time on the Arsenal sidelines with France boss Didier Deschamps dropping the striker for his country’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Giroud has yet to make a start for Arsenal since returning from Euro 2016, completing less than an hour in three substitute appearances in the Premier League and also being sidelined with an injury to his big toe.

In his absence he has been forced to watch on as Alexis Sanchez made the centre forward role his own, with Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi bringing a pace to the Arsenal attack that has often been missing with Giroud in the side.

At a press conference to unveil his squad for matches against Bulgaria and the Netherlands next month Deschamps hinted that the toe injury may still be cause for concern for Giroud, who Arsene Wenger rates as a doubt for Sunday's trip to Burnley, but assured the Arsenal striker that he still remains a valued part of the French setup.

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"The important thing is to have players at 100 percent," he said. "I wish that he, like all the players, had as much playing time as possible because like every player he needs to be in the rhythm, repeat effort match after match over 90 minutes.

"I'm not going to worry now. Of course he too wants more playing time. There have been times in recent years when he has played less and he has always managed to turn things round. I don't call into question what I think of him, what he has done, and what he can do with us."

Though Giroud missed out there was space in the squad for his Arsenal team-mate Laurent Koscielny. The centre-back is one of seven representatives from London sides in France’s 23-strong selection. Crystal Palace (Steve Mandanda and Yohan Cabaye) and Tottenham (Hugo Lloris and Moussa Sissoko) both provide two players whilst N’Golo Kante represents Chelsea.

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