THEO WALCOTT INSISTS he ‘fully deserves’ a place in Arsenal’s first-team after scoring in last night’s 2-2 Champions League draw against Schalke.
Walcott has been in great form since his return from injury, scoring a hat-trick in the north Londoners’ 7-5 win over Reading in the League Cup last week, and has made it known in the past that he wants to be considered as a central striker, with manager Arsene Wenger intimating that he would get his chance.
However, with his contract running out at the end of the season and talks stalling over a new deal, Walcott has found himself restricted to starting from the bench for the majority of the campaign – but he says he just wants to get on the pitch and help the team try to win the Premier League.
“I just want to play, that’s the main thing,” Walcott said after helping Arsenal to a draw that kept them in second place in their Champions League group.
“Hopefully I can just have a run in the team because I think I fully deserve it. I just want to play for this team and hopefully this team can win the Premier League this year.”
When pressed on whether his contract situation had anything to do with his diminished role this year, he replied: “You have to ask the manager that question to be honest, I can’t answer that.”
