Thaindian News

London, Oct. 6 (ANI): Theo Walcott is raring to have a go at all pretenders to his throne, who have taken advantage of his enforced injury-related absence and sought to threaten his position with both England and Arsenal.

Walcott returned on Sunday to strike a sublime goal in Arsenal’s 6-2 romp against Blackburn at the Emirates - with England coach Fabio Capello in the stands - after two months out with a back problem.

During that time he has seen Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon make his claim for a place on the England plane to the World Cup finals in South Africa next summer with some scintillating displays for both club and country.And promising youngsters Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere are now mounting a threat to his position on the right of Arsenal’s midfield.

Walcott, 20, was a shock selection in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s England squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but he understands his place in Capello’s plans for the summer is far from secure, such is his inconsistent appearance record for Arsenal.

The Daily Express quoted Walcott, as saying: “I was aware of Mr. Capello being there. But it is always great having competition because it brings the best out of you. England has a great squad with a great bunch of lads and it’s the same for Arsenal, with fantastic world-class players. It’s not nice being injured because you just want to be back on the pitch playing and getting into the rhythm of things.”"It’s good to come off the bench and be involved in a brilliant team. I had a game behind closed doors against Olympiakos Under-20s last week just to get me going. I haven’t really had a pre-season, so it’s nice to play that sort of game to get your fitness up and see what your levels are like,” he added.

“At the moment, all I am thinking about is trying to get back into the Arsenal starting line-up and I am not really thinking about the World Cup,” said Walcott. (ANI)