On loan Everton winger Theo Walcott has revealed he has been playing for Southampton with a broken bone in his left wrist.
Walcott returned to his boyhood club on a season-long loan from the Blues on transfer deadline day after falling down the pecking order at Goodison Park.
The former Arsenal man has so far enjoyed a successful start to life on the South Coast and scored the opener in his side’s 1-1 draw with Wolves on Monday.
And speaking after that game, Walcott confirmed he sustained a broken third carpal against Newcastle United before the international break.
“I’ve broken my third carpal – so I’ve got to strap it up. I’ve got to look after it,” he told the Daily Echo.
“I whacked it in the first half but I’ve just got to get on with it. I managed to play through a lot of pain, so it’s fine.”
The winger, whose contract at Goodison Park expires at the end of this season, recently hinted that his future may well lie with the Saints.
"I want to help the academy graduates coming through now," he said. "I’m sure they’ve got a lot of questions to ask – quite a few of them have already been asking me things.
“A lot of them have been saying, ‘I watched you at Arsenal and now I’m playing with you!’ so that’s a nice touch.
“I feel like everyone’s a really hard worker. With the way the manager wants to play, you need to work hard, and if you don’t work hard you’re not going to play. It’s simple – there’s no hiding place.
“He expects perfection in certain jobs – particularly without the ball, but that’s something that I’m starting to learn pretty quickly now, and I’m looking forward to the next game."
Before he added: “The manager has pulled me to one side a few times and put me in a room to go through a lot of tactics, which is nice to see, just to get my coaching head on, because that’s something in the future I might want to look at.
“It’s very interesting. I’m really enjoying my short time working with the manager at the moment and hopefully it can be a long-term thing.”
