Alexandre Lacazette admits he has had a difficult couple of weeks at Arsenal having struggled for game time of late.
The Frenchman has been left out of Mikel Arteta's last two Premier League starting XIs having not scored for 67 days until his wonder-strike to get Arsenal off the mark in their 4-1 Europa League win over Rapid Wien on Thursday night.
Lacazette impressed in a deeper role as the Gunners secured top spot in their group with a game to spare, maintaining their 100% record in Europe this season.
The win was topped off by the presence of Gunners fans inside the Emirates Stadium since before the first lockdown in March.
Around 2,000 supporters were allowed inside the ground to witness Arsenal's rout of their Austrian opponents, and Lacazette outlined their importance after the game, particularly for him and his confidence having struggled of late.
"It was amazing. We were so happy to see the fans today," he told BT Sport. Even in bad moments, they helped us to play good and we played well today.
"Everyone looked forward to coming back. It was really good. The fans are behind us. It was not easy for me for these last couple of weeks but to see the fans behind me and behind the team is really nice, so I really enjoyed and thanks for them tonight."
Lacazette was quizzed after the game about whether he had made his case to Arteta for a possible start in Sunday's North London derby with table-toppers Tottenham, but he wouldn't be drawn.
"Tonight we wanted to enjoy, to make it a fifth win in a row and we did it," he replied. "Now we are focussing for the derby on the weekend. We need to rest and let the coach decide."
As far as former Spurs striker Peter Crouch is concerned, however, Lacazette certainly did send a message to his boss.
"He has given the manager food for thought and after that performance today - he was magnificent, he was involved in everything," Crouch said in his role as a pundit with BT Sport.
"From that deeper role, he was dictating possession, he was passing the ball sharply.
"He scored a great goal and he had other opportunities to score. I was very impressed with his performance."
