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Walcott - Champions League is major goal

Theo Walcott

Theo Walcott accepts that personal goals must go on the backburner as Arsenal look to make sure of Champions League football in the last four games of this season.

The 24 year-old forward has enjoyed his best goalscoring campaign to date, with 18 to his name - but hasn't found the net since the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on January 30, thanks partly to an injury sustained on England duty.

Two more strikes would see Walcott reach his pre-season target, but he has the greater good in mind ahead of Manchester United's visit.

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"Getting injured on the international break was frustrating, and the one thing I’ve been a bit disappointed with since then is the goals element - I haven’t scored for a while now," he told the official matchday programme.

"But there are only four games left now and it’s not the time to think about myself. I set a 20-goal target for the season and only need two more to reach it, but the biggest goal for me is to help Arsenal finish third or fourth.

"That said, I’d be perfectly happy with a goal against United to kick off a great end to the season!"

That won't be an easy task, of course. Man United are worthy Premier League champions, and Walcott cites their all-round strength as the reason for their procession to this year's title.

"They look strong all over the pitch," he said. "At times I’ve seen teams that have seemed to play better than them, but they’ve managed to get the result and that’s what has been good about them.

"They’ve run away with it this season and made a lot of teams look pretty ordinary - it just shows how strong they’ve been. It’s a challenge to face them this weekend but that’s nice - we want to be champions just like them so let’s see how we match up."

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