Per Mertesacker has revealed how he formed a strong bond with Danny Welbeck as the pair recovered from their long-term injuries last year, labelling the Arsenal striker a "positive guy".
Mertesacker is yet to feature for the Gunners this season after recovering from a serious knee injury sustained last summer although he has recently come back into Arsene Wenger's squad.
Meanwhile, Welbeck - who also suffered a knee injury last year - has begun to make substitute appearances for the north Londoners, which paid off when the striker scored twice in Arsenal's FA Cup fourth-round win over Southampton last month.
Welbeck recently admitted that Mertesacker was "one of the reasons that I kept on smiling through those [dark] times" and said: "He’s a top man, a sick, sick guy."
And the defender has now responded with equal praise, saying the Arsenal forward also supported him during his long spell out with injury.
Speaking about Welbeck, Mertesacker told Arsenal's official website: "He’s a positive guy.
"Obviously when you’re injured at the same time, you share the pain. We’ve got a saying which says, 'If you share the pain, it’s half the pain', so we kept smiling, training and doing things together.
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"There’s a little bond there which really exists but it’s all about getting back to the pitch. Danny was a little bit quicker [to return] than me, but we still had lots of training sessions where we sweated together and gave a lot.
"You see that person more than your other team-mates, so it’s nice that he embraced the challenge. I tried to support him and he supported me, so it was a very healthy thing and I think we did really well.
"I can only say that it was lovely to work with him. He’s very positive and lifts everyone in the dressing room."
