LONDON // Theo Walcott has admitted to leaving himself out of his own Fantasy Football team in an attempt to stay ahead of his Arsenal teammates.
The England forward returned to Arsenal duty in midweek after an ankle injury, and though likely to feature against Manchester City this afternoon at Eastlands, he has yet to convince himself that he is worthy of a Fantasy recall.
"I dropped myself," said Walcott. "I need to get myself back in at some point. It's a good laugh and all the lads do it. I'm fourth in my league but it's a different league to the rest of them; a higher league."
Meanwhile, Walcott is not overly concerned by the spate of bad challenges this season.
Walcott, who was on the pitch at Stoke City's Britannia Stadium last season when Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey suffered a horrific broken leg, said: "There have been more breakages this season than normal but I'm a player who gets kicked all the time.
"I just try to get back up from it and move on, and that's all you can do. With training, I want to get back to the physical side of things. I've only been whacked on my ankle once so I think I need a couple more whacks just to make sure it's okay.
"Wayne Bridge will probably be left-back [today], so I'm sure I'll take a few but I'll be fine."
sports@thenational.ae
