Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has admitted that he was not always as focused on certain games he played for the Gunners before being handed the captain's armband.
After Switzerland international Granit Xhaka was stripped of the captaincy just over a year ago, Aubameyang was handed the honour instead.
Since being handed the captaincy, the 31-year-old, who has scored just twice in the Premier League so far this season, has helped Mikel Arteta's side clinch two trophies, winning both the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield.
Whilst there was no doubting Aubameyang's importance to the cause before he was handed the armband, he has been forced to take on additional responsibilities since being handed the role of club captain.
And now, the Gabon international, who signed a new contract at the Emirates Stadium back in September, has admitted that he has changed his own personal outlook on each individual game with more expectancy weighting on his shoulders.
“I think [I have changed], yeah,” the Gunners ace told Arsenal.com. “Because you feel a lot of responsibilities and I think I am trying to give everything in every single game.
"I think before maybe, I don't know, it was not done on purpose but maybe sometimes I was a little bit less concerned on certain games.
"But now I am just focusing on every game and trying to give my best. Even if I'm on the bench I try to scream and help my team-mates, so yeah I think it's changed me.
“I think this is really important because sometimes you can also have bad days and be in a bad mood, so you have to try to change it into positive things.
"This is where I am, how can I say, it's easy for me to make people maybe happier: to lift them up and that's my job. I can say that's my job but I do it naturally.
“I just have to be the example for everyone. If I have to go to the gym to do the upper body I have to go first, then everyone will follow.
"Because the guys in the gym are waiting and say, ‘If you come then everyone will come! You know that!' So I say 'OK, OK' so now I am the first to go to the gym, this is it.”
Though there is no doubt about just how crucial the forward is to Arteta's side, he has experienced a tricky time of it of late in front of goal, scoring just four times this season in all competitions, despite being many people's pick to challenge for the Premier League Golden Boot once again.
