THEO WALCOTT has played down concerns about the shoulder injury that kept him out for nearly four months, insisting he is ready to face Roma tomorrow night.
Arsenal lead 1-0 from the first leg of their last-16 Champions League tie but Arsene Wenger has vowed to attack rather than merely defend that advantage.
With Emmanuel Adebayor ruled out of the tie with a hamstring injury the return of Walcott and Croatia striker Eduardo could prove perfectly timed. Wenger also hopes Kolo Toure will be fit.
Walcott played the final 19 minutes of Arsenal’s FA Cup victory over Burnley on Sunday, his first taste of competitive action since dislocating his right shoulder while on international duty with England in November.
The Arsenal winger had previously damaged his left shoulder, which was operated on in the summer of 2007 and, although he believes he is inherently fragile in that area, he is convinced it will not be a problem in the future.
Much of that optimism is down to the work of Arsenal’s new doctor, Gary O’Driscoll, who has been treating Walcott since arriving at the Emirates last month. O’Driscoll is the cousin of the Ireland rugby captain, Brian O’Driscoll, and has huge experience of handling shoulder injuries, notably the one sustained by his illustrious relative after he was infamously spear-tackled during the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in 2005.
“When I recovered from my left shoulder op, it was all fine but a couple of months later I jolted my right shoulder and the specialist said eventually something would happen to it and it did,” Walcott said.
“It feels fine. I still haven’t experienced getting clattered yet so that’s the next test but if that happens the new doc has come from a rugby background. He said, touch wood, I’ll be okay.”
Walcott said he needs “a few more training sessions and a few more games coming off the bench” before he feels ready to start a match but he is confident he could make an impact as a substitute if required tomorrow.
One player who will not relish Walcott’s comeback is Roma defender John Arne Riise, who was one of the Liverpool players left in the teenager’s wake when, with his team losing 2-1, he sprinted the length of the pitch to set up a goal for Adebayor in last season’s quarter-final. Liverpool eventually went through, winning the tie 4-2, but Walcott is hopeful of ending on the right side against Riise in Rome. “He was one of the players telling me to stop running when I set up the goal at Anfield last year so hopefully we can do better against him this time.”
Guardian Service
