Quantcast
Home   >   News   >   Walcott Offers Fitness Update After Making Return For Arsenal U21’s

Walcott Offers Fitness Update After Making Return For Arsenal U21’s

By on October 18, 2014

Theo Walcott Arsenal

Theo Walcott says he’s “feeling fine” after making his long awaited injury comeback with a run out for the Arsenal Under-21’s on Friday evening.

Theo has been out for over nine months after rupturing his cruciate ligament in his knee back in January but returned to full training last week.

He stepped up his recovery after starting for the Under-21’s against Blackburn last night and got 45 minutes under his belt during a 0-0 draw at Meadow Park.

After the game, the 25-year-old told Sky Sports News that it felt great to be back playing again and he thanked the Arsenal staff for all their supports these past few months.

“It’s been a hard, long, nine months and first I’ve got to say a massive thank you to all the Arsenal medical team. Without them, and my family behind me, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done.

“I’ve had so much support – messages – right from the start of the injury. It’s just nice to go out there and, you know, kick a ball and enjoy doing it. It’s not just a job, it’s something I enjoy doing. I thoroughly missed it and I just want to get back fit. It looked very good tonight, very pleased.

“I always need to just go out there and play the best I can. I don’t even think about anything like injuries or little knocks. When the adrenaline’s in your system you don’t even think about that, you just think about the game and that’s all I did tonight, so I got through it fine.”

Theo went on to confirm that he ‘felt fine’ after the game and thankfully he didn’t pick up any knocks, but insists there was no chance he’d feature against Hull this afternoon.

“Not at all. It’s important to recover. You need to be a bit patient, it’s not going to happen straight away – the manager will choose to play me when he wants.

“I’ve been whacked by Mathieu Flamini a few times already so that side of it is not a problem at all! Not many people managed to keep up with me tonight, I didn’t get any knocks tonight. I feel fine.

“I’m very excited. It’s nice to put on the Arsenal shirt again.”

It’s a major boost to have Walcott back playing again and hopefully he could be ready to make his first team return if not against Anderlcht on Wednesday, then perhaps away at Sunderland next weekend.