The chances of the Arsenal and England international star Theo Walcott starting against Estonia at Wembley on Friday have just taken a massive turn for the better, after the England captain and regular centre forward Wayne Rooney was forced to miss the latest training session after picking up an ankle injury.
As reported by the Daily Mail, there is still a chance that Rooney could be passed fit to play, but surely Roy Hodgson will respect the wishes of Manchester United and err on the side of caution in this game that has lost a lot of it´s importance due to the three lions already sealing their qualification for Euro 2016 last month.
The FA are apparently planning to use the game on Friday to mark Rooney´s goal scoring record but that does not mean he has to start or even play. If he is fit I assume that he will be brought on at some point but not used from the start, leaving the manager with a decision about who to start in his place and Walcott has already put his name forward.
He said, “Being Wayne he always wants to represent his country.
“If he can’t – and he’s obviously got a little knock, we’ll know tomorrow if he’s able to train – the manager will make the decision.
“Playing there (up front) for England, that’s what I want to do.
“You want to represent your country and I know everyone would like to see me up front, but whether it’s on the left or right… there’s an opportunity there definitely.”
I am not sure the Tottenham striker Harry Kane would agree with the Arsenal forward but Kane has already had a few chances in the middle for England and on form, Theo deserves to get his own opportunity. And with England likely to dominate the games with Estonia and Lithuania, Walcott will believe that he has a great chance to lay down a marker ahead of next summer and add to his so far disappointing tally of seven goals from 41 caps.
He went on, “Hopefully we can go 10 undefeated. It’s an opportunity for players on the brink of the squad to show the manager what they can do, but it will be a great achievement to win 10 out of 10.
“I know people will say the group’s not the best in the world but every international game is difficult and you have to give credit to the guys.
“We won’t get ahead of ourselves, but not many teams have done it.”
If Walcott can help England achieve this feat, could he be in line to replace Rooney on a more permanent basis?