France head coach Didier Deschamps believes Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has been 'unfairly treated' in recent months
The 32-year-old has struggled for game time with his club career in the last few years, being substitutes for both Arsenal and Chelsea, however he has been a constant in Deschamps's team.
During their World Cup-winning success last summer, Giroud started every game, except for the opening match of the campaign when the striker was injured, and was a big part to them winning the competition.
Giroud didn't score during the tournament and his goalscoring has come under some criticism throughout his career.
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However, Giroud has been in blistering form since the turn of the year, having scored nine goals in nine games in the Europa League, while also netting for France last night in their 4-1 victory over Moldova.
And Deschamps believes that the striker does not get enough credit for what he has done during his career so far.
Deschamps said: "The counter [amount of goals] is increasing, it is there.
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"He is less used by his club but when he plays in the Europa League, he also scores. His pivotal presence is very useful to the team. So much the better that he scored.
"This is an important figure [of 34 goals], which he continues. He comes back from a difficult time, he is an unfairly treated player.
"But his goals, it is necessary to put them at the high level and over the duration, it is not nothing. As long as I select him and he plays, he can get closer [to Michel Platini’s total].
"When he is on the field, he continues to score. He is always there with this desire and this freshness, he must keep that."
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