Arsenal star: We can’t be down in the dumps in training ahead of Aston Villa clash

Thursday, February 21, 2013
7:42 AM

Theo Walcott knows Arsenal need to make amends for a miserable week when Aston Villa visit on Saturday.

Saturday’s shock FA Cup exit to Blackburn was compounded by a Champions League last-16 humbling at the hands of Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Arsenal face the unenviable task of attempting to overcome a 3-1 home defeat in Germany, with failure to do so virtually ensuring they would end an eighth successive season without a trophy.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has come under mounting criticism as a result and Walcott admits his team are in need of a morale-boosting win when they return to Premier League action against Villa.

“We’ve got the best man in the job to get our heads back to where they should be,” the forward said. “I’ve played a lot of games in the Champions League and I know how things go.

“We need to react in a positive way straight away. We can’t be down in the dumps in training. Everybody needs to be alive and alert, recover well.

“We’ve got a good run in the Premier League - we can’t forget that.

“We’ve had some good points, very important points, so we’ve just got to start believing again. I think that’s one of the main things - believe in how good we are, because we didn’t show it against Bayern.”

Arsenal have just one win to their name in 2013 and are in a straight fight for fourth spot, having never previously failed to qualify for the Champions League under Wenger.

“If you are a top team, and with the saga of not winning anything for such a long time, it’s always disappointing if that happens,” Walcott said.

“But I don’t want to focus on the negativity about that. I just want to focus on the positive side of the team, because I know how good those guys are, and get to where we should be.”