Arsenal keeper Petr Cech says hard work has been the key to the Gunners rapid improvement under new boss Unai Emery.

Emery took over from Arsene Wenger as Arsenal boss during the summer, and after a difficult start to the season, has since guided his side to five consecutive wins in all competitions.

The Gunners began the season with back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea, but have since won all oft their games against West Ham, Cardiff, Newcastle, Vorskla and most recently Everton.

Cech put in a Man of the Match performance as the Arsenal beat the Toffees 2-0 at Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon, and the former Chelsea man has since praised Emery’s methods for helping turn things around.

“We had a very hard start and with two defeats it was not ideal,” began Cech, “But I thought especially at Chelsea we did a lot better than the result showed at the end.

“So we knew that we were capable of competing with everybody and we just needed to get it via results. Now we turn the work into wins and points, which is very important.

“But there were obviously things we need to improve and there are things we have been doing really well. We work on that every day and with the confidence we get from winning the game, it is much easier.”

Speaking specifically on the impact of Emery in North London, the veteran keeper said: “He is very demanding and I think this is how you improve.

“I think the place became much more demanding in every way so this is great to see because this is what initially drives everybody forward and gives you the kind of kick that, ‘I’m not doing enough to start the game’ or ‘I’m not doing enough to keep my spot in the game’ because the manager asked for precision and hard work every day.

“This is how it should be. We have very healthy competition and we are actually taking the benefit of it.”

Arsenal next take on Championship high flyers Brentford in the Carabao Cup tomorrow night, where Cech could miss out in favour of summer signing Bernd Leno.