Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has told the Guardian he is ready to step up in the absence of injured Francis Coquelin.
Coquelin, who is a key member of Arsene Wenger's starting XI, has been sidelined for 12 weeks with a knee injury, putting pressure on Arsenal's available players to perform in holding midfielder.
Flamini, 31, has made four starts in all competitions for the Gunners this season and the Frenchman is hopeful of a run in the side now that Coquelin is out.
"Football is a competition, it makes you better and stronger," Flamini said. "I have an opportunity to be back in the team and I will try to prove every game that I can be in the team. Can I play twice a week for three months? I think I can but now it is my job to prove it.
"Fitness is hard to maintain. For an athlete, if you don't play every week, it's not easy because the more games you have in your legs, the better you become. You gain in confidence, you become better physically, so the possibility to have game after game is obviously going to be good for me.
"It's a lot of pleasure for me that I get back into the team. The season is always very long so sometimes you have to accept being on the bench but sometimes you have the opportunity to prove you are still there and can still play in the Arsenal team. I really enjoyed the Dinamo game."
Flamini helped Arsenal to a 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League on Tuesday, to keep their hopes intact ahead of their final group game at Olympiakos.
The Gunners must beat Olympiakos by two or more goals or by a one-goal margin of 3-2 or higher.
"It's going to be a great atmosphere over there, we definitely know it is not going to be easy but we have the quality and team spirit to do it," Flamini said.
"We definitely can do it. We played beautiful football against Dinamo and scored three goals. Why not go to Athens and win by two goals?"