WALCOTT RULED OUT

Arsenal have suffered a major injury blow in the form of England winger Theo Walcott, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a hamstring injury in the match against Chelsea. Theo Walcott appeared to pull up his groin in the second half of the encounter with the London rivals.

However, he refused to be substituted and wanted to carry on. It looked as if Theo Walcott wanted to see if he could run off the injury. However, after a few minutes after reappearing, Walcott suffered a major blow and had to be substituted. Now, Arsenal have confirmed that Walcott will be missing the remaining four matches of the Premier league season.

There is also a major problem for England, as he could well miss the initial group matches at the Euro 2012 if selected. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was furious after the match because Theo Walcott had the opportunity to come off when he first sensed the trouble.

This comes as a major blow for Arsenal just at the crucial time in the season because midfielders Jack Wilshere and Mikel Arteta have already been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Further, it looks as if Newcastle United might pull off a shock by overtaking Arsenal in the Premier league table following the 0-0 draw with Chelsea during the weekend, while Newcastle managed a splendid 3-0 win over Stoke City.

“It looks like a serious hamstring. I think now for him it will be tough to come back before the end of the season. It is usually 21 days [minimum]. He should be OK to play for England. First we assessed the hamstring. He wanted to go on and stay on the pitch. I think he should have gone off straight away because the second time it was a real hamstring [injury] ,” said Wenger. England are one of the favourites to win the tournament according to the latest euro 2012 betting odds.