Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey believes that his side will have a much stronger start to the next campaign after qualifying automatically for the group stages of the Champions League.

The Gunners have been forced to play in qualifying matches ahead of the last two campaigns, which has given them two additional games in the opening month of the season.

However, Arsenal finished above Manchester United in third place to avoid the qualifying round, and the 24-year-old feels that his side will reap the benefits in the Premier League.

Ramsey told Sky Sports News: "At the beginning of the season you're still getting your fitness levels up and those first few games are quite tough.

"If you sandwich a few Champions League fixtures in between them, that's maybe too much for certain players at that time of the season.

"So it's important to go through to the group stages without having that knock-out game to qualify. The good thing for us is not to have those games and hopefully that gets off to a very strong start."

Ramsey has been linked with a move to Barcelona over the past month.