Francis Coquelin calls for an instant response from Arsenal

Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin has called for an instant response to last week’s shock defeat to West Ham, a result he believes was a wake-up call for everyone at the Emirates.

Arsene Wenger’s men were hoping to underline their title credentials with a strong start to the Premier League after their Community Shield win over Chelsea.

They were beaten instead by Slaven Bilic’s side, themselves criticised for going out of the Europa League to Romanian side Astra Giurgiu just three days earlier.

Frenchman Coquelin admits that display fell well short of expectations for a side hoping to end a wait for English football’s biggest prize which dates back to 2004.

Arsenal continue their campaign on Sunday when they visit Selhurst Park for a London derby against Crystal Palace.

Coquelin, who is looking to build on his breakthrough season last year, told Arsenal’s website: “It's been a wake-up call for everyone.

“Considering the recent results we had before that, going really well in pre-season, it's disappointing and it was not an Arsenal performance.

“In bad things, good things can come out too. It's good that it happened in the first game so that now we can pull ourselves together with 37 games left.

“We know the quality we have and we need to respond straight away. We've been working really hard in training and we need to put all of the training effort into the game.”

Former France U21 international Coquelin admits Manchester City have set the standards he feels Arsenal have to reach after their impressive 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.

The 24-year-old added: “When you look at different teams I think a lot of them are ready. You look at Manchester City when they played against West Brom, I think they played really good football.”