Theo Walcott warns Arsenal not to get carried away at the top

Theo Walcott has warned Arsenal not to get carried away by their position at the top of the Premier League table heading into the new year.

The north Londoners moved back to the summit of the English top flight thanks to a battling 1-0 win at Newcastle United on Sunday as they continued their fine start to the season.

But Walcott, who set up Olivier Giroud for Arsenal’s winner against the Magpies, knows that the Gunners must remain focused on staying consistent in the second half of the season.

We’re getting stronger and stronger every week. Going into the new year, we’re very excited

Theo Walcott

“Every game that goes by that we win is more belief that we’re going to win the league,” Walcott told Arsenal Player. “But we won’t get ahead our ourselves, we know how crucial every game is.

“We’ve got to make sure we look after ourselves and hopefully teams will start to slip up. Just as long as we keep on believing, which everyone is and we’ve been doing from the start of the season.

“Hopefully everyone can stay fit, which is important to have a nice run to the end of the season.”

The 24-year-old England international also praised Arsenal’s new-found defensive stability following the win at St James’ Park.

“I think you could see from the [final] 10 games last year that it was coming and that we had it in ourselves,” Walcott said.

“Everyone has been absolutely solid throughout the whole year and it was nice to see Laurent [Koscielny] back today as well.

“It’s been two tough away matches in this period, I think a lot of people doubted that we were going to get results.

“It just shows that we’ve got great character in that dressing room and we’re getting stronger and stronger every week. Everyone trusts each other, which is so important. Going into the new year, we’re very excited.”