Arsenal: Francis Coquelin applauds Matheiu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey's performance against Manchester City

Francis Coquelin believes that Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini's successful partnership in the middle of the park is because the duo are at complete ease with each other. In the absence of himself and Santi Cazorla, the duo played an important role in the Gunners' 2-1 win over Manchester City last Monday.

Moreover, with injuries plaguing the team, the midfielders are likely to continue being an integral part of the squad until early next year. Flamini has taken up Coquelin's position in central midfield, while Ramsey has been asked to orchestrate the play in the absence of Cazorla.

The Welshman has been accused of having a lack of spatial awareness and an increased propensity to bomb forward at every opportunity, but he kept his cool and dug deep to keep City out in the first half. Flamini managed to stick with David Silva for a major part of the game, successfully emulating Coquelin's performance with the Frenchman keeping the Spaniard in a shell in the Gunners' 2-0 win at the Etihad last season.

The 24-year-old would likely be back in February after suffering a knee ligament injury against West Bromwich Albion in November, but Arsene Wenger is keeping his options open for reinforcements in January. Mohamed Elneny is being scouted for a move in the coming transfer window as the Gunners look to put in a sustained challenge for the title.

"If someone gets injured, the spirit in the squad is really good. As soon as someone comes in, they put a shift in and you can see that even when we lose a lot of players, because the team is still really strong. That's really good for what we want to achieve, to win the title, so it's great to be able to count on everyone," Coquelin told Arsenal's official website.

"The good thing is that everyone gets along with each other in the squad and that makes a lot of things easier. When you go to tell someone off, you do it and everyone takes it in a good way. We all want to go in the same direction. It's a great partnership.

"Aaron is a little bit more offensive. Mathieu was getting forward a bit more compared to what he did in the first games he played, but against Manchester City he showed a lot of discipline to play really well. He's really important in big games and they both showed great quality, which is really good for the next game coming up," he added.