Walcott - I'm blowing the cobwebs away

Theo Walcott insists he is “not expecting too much” from the first few games of his comeback.

The England forward has made three substitute appearances since returning from the long-term injury he suffered in the FA Cup third-round clash with Tottenham Hotspur last season.

Now, exactly a year after the Spurs game, Walcott says his main focus is on securing valuable minutes against Hull City in this season’s cup opener.

“It’s a year since [the injury] and it’s gone very quickly,” the 25-year-old said. “I’ve had loads of things in my life that have changed completely. That side of it was a good thing.

“Things happen for a reason and it’s given me the opportunity to work on different parts of my game that I missed out on when I was younger - the actual development stage of it.

“I am looking forward to getting a few minutes [on Sunday]. I’m not expecting too much from these games early on. It will be blowing the cobwebs away and will be good to be out playing with my mates again because I’ve missed it all.

“It’s important to have a good start, especially against Hull. We have our home support and we have to bounce back from the Southampton game. We want to become those legends [in Arsenal’s history] so we need to knuckle down and start performing.”