Walcott - I will play my heart out at Anfield



Theo Walcott believes Anfield will be the perfect stage to ignite his season.

The Arsenal forward has barely featured this term thanks to a back injury, knee ligament damage and then a tweak to his hamstring. However he made his second start of the season and completed a full 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat at Olympiacos on Wednesday night.

That leaves Walcott in contention for a place in the team to face Liverpool and the 20-year-old has fond memories of Anfield after his stunning run and assist in last year's Champions League Quarter-Final. Walcott would love the chance to do more damage on Sunday and bolster Arsenal's title bid.

"Hopefully if I get a start I will play my heart out," said Walcott.

"I was a Liverpool fan when I was younger and I have always played very well there. It always brings back happy memories, so if I am called on from the bench hopefully I'll do a job.

"There are a few teams involved in the title race and we are definitely one of them. We are strong candidates.

"With Chelsea losing we and other clubs can catch them up now and Liverpool are always in the top four and these are the games we need to win, especially away from home. So we are going to go right at it. All the first-team players have had a good rest, so hopefully they should be right at it."

Walcott was not at his sharpest in Athens and admitted after the game that he needs more time to rediscover his best form after those injuries. But the England international has not let his spell on the sidelines get him down.

"You have just got to keep your head up," said Walcott. "Tomas Rosicky was out for a very long time, and he is out again, but he used to come into the training ground smiling and that is what kept me going.

"The funny thing is the injuries are no fault of my own. It has been very bad luck. I am not an injury-prone player, so hopefully I have a long career ahead of me.

"Lately people may have thought I have been injury-prone but I just need to play more games and the more I play the better I'll get. The goals will come when the performances come."