Exclusive – Walcott: I want to play up front for Arsenal

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has voiced his wish to play as a striker for his team after continuing his sharp-shooting form with a goal in their 5-2 win over Spurs.

Walcott’s 90^th minute goal on Saturday was his ninth of the season in all competitions and, following that strike, the Gunners star revealed he would prefer to play with the likes of Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski up front, but acknowledged that he may have to wait as there is no need to change a winning team.

“I’ve always believed I was a striker,” he told Stan on Call Collymore.

“The boss gave me five minutes at the end there and I managed to grab a goal which was great. But when you’ve got someone like Olivier [Giroud] who is playing well there’s no need to change a winning team.

“My time will come, I’ve just got to be patient, but like a say, I want to play upfront, that’s my best position.”

Walcott also revealed what makes the north London derby so special to play in and added that he hopes the result against Spurs will give them confidence for the rest of the season.

“These derbies are always special to play, just because it means so much to not just the players but the fans as well. You don’t want to lose, it’s great to be a part of it.

“We’ve got to be confident now, we’ve been a bit unlucky at times but we need to start taking our chances and I think we managed to do that against Spurs.

“We’ve got players on form at the moment and players who can come off the bench, like Alex [Oxlade-Chamberlain], came off the bench and showed what a fantastic talent he is, he’s a real threat.

“It’s looking bright, but we’ve got to not get ahead of ourselves because we need to push on. If we don’t win our next game it’s going to be a disappointment.”