Walcott backs stricken England pair to recover

Theo Walcott was not overly concerned by the absences from training yesterday morning of Daniel Sturridge and Jack Wilshere ahead of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

Sturridge was carrying a thigh injury during Liverpool’s victory over Manchester United and has been given extra time to get back to full fitness.

Wilshere went off in the first half of Arsenal’s win against Tottenham at the weekend with stomach cramps and he has also been afforded more time to try to recover.

Both players remain with the squad at the England training complex at St George’s Park though, and the hope is they will be fit for Friday’s qualifier against Moldova at Wembley and the crucial game in Ukraine four days later.

Arsenal forward Walcott is optimistic the pair will be ready for Friday.

He said: “He [Sturridge] is here — that is the positive.

“Hopefully Dan can get over the knock.

“He played with it [on Sunday] I think so fingers crossed he will be okay for Friday and Tuesday.”

Of his Gunners team-mate Wilshere, Walcott added: “He’s had an illness so he needs an extra couple of days to recover.

“I am sure he will be fine, hopefully.”

As for any potential replacements, the 24-year-old added: “The manager knows the players to pick for these games.

“I am always there if the manager needs a different option. We have Rickie [Lambert] and Danny [Welbeck] there.

“We have some good attacking threat and we’ll be fine.”