Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos says the players are fully behind Mesut Ozil.

The German has been in and out of the Gunners’ first team under Unai Emery this season, with injuries having an impact on his game time.

Speaking about Ozil following the 3-0 win over BATE Borisov in the Europa League, Sokratis said the German playmaker is an important part of the team:

“Mesut is a fantastic player and when he is fit he is one of the most important players in the team.”

“Of course when something is not going good, everybody is there to criticise but we have to see also what Mesut did in the last years for this team.”

“All the team, all the players are behind him and we need a good Mesut to go (forward) because we know that he is very important for us.”

Whether Ozil will keep his place in the starting line up against Southampton today, we shall have to wait and see.

The 30-year-old made only his second start of 2019 on Thursday night, but despite being back to full fitness, manager Unai Emery has not given any guarantees of regular first-team action.

At his pre-match press conference, the Spaniard praised Ozil, but emphasised that the midfielder will be “sometimes in the starting XI and sometimes on the bench.”

Emery has been somewhat unpredictable in his selection of the German but he has shown a tendency to start him at home against teams lower down the table. Southampton would certainly fit into that bracket.