'From the word go, we were ready'

Theo Walcott has fond memories of his years with Southampton, and he was applauded by home and away fans alike as he walked off the St Mary’s pitch on Saturday.

Our returning forward left his old stamping ground with the matchball after three goals that showcased his desire to get into good positions, and his clinical finishing.

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Here’s Theo take on our 5-0 win:

on winning comfortably…
We know how it’s been when we come to Southampton, they tend to be our bogey side to be honest. But from the word go, we were ready. We’ve been lacking on poor starts lately. It’s nice that we created a lot of chances and we tucked them away, and it’s a clean sheet which is what we aim for in any game.

on whether walking away with the match ball is payback…
I wouldn’t say it’s payback at all. It’s been so long now, I’ve had some great memories and Southampton always will be in my heart without a doubt. I enjoyed playing football here at the time and obviously I’ve enjoyed tonight. Fantastic game today, but Southampton are a strong team. They’ve obviously done very well in the [ERL] cup competition - I’ll be cheering them on in the final and they’re very strong in the Premier League. But going back to us, a lot of changes today were made. We’ve managed to do our talking on the pitch.

on the absence of the manager on the touchline…
We’re on the pitch, we just try to do our job. When things are going well it’s great, it’s obviously important for the manager to be there, but he was in the dressing room before and after the game and during half-time, but we know our jobs. We’ve been in the game for a long time, we’ve got so much experience and we wanted to get the win today.

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