Friday 17 October 2014 22:47, UK
Theo Walcott moved closer to an Arsenal comeback with an appearance for the club's U21 side on Friday evening.
The England forward has spent more than nine months recuperating from cruciate ligament damage suffered during January's FA Cup third-round tie against Tottenham.
And Walcott started a goalless draw with Blackburn before he was replaced by Alex Iwobi at half-time.
Afterwards he told Sky Sports News HQ: "It's been a hard, long, nine months and first I've got to say a massive thank you to all the Arsenal medical team. Without them, and my family behind me, I wouldn't have been able to do what I've done.
"I've had so much support - messages - right from the start of the injury. It's just nice to go out there and, you know, kick a ball and enjoy doing it. It's not just a job, it's something I enjoy doing. I thoroughly missed it and I just want to get back fit. It looked very good tonight, very pleased.
"I always need to just go out there and play the best I can. I don't even think about anything like injuries or little knocks. When the adrenaline's in your system you don't even think about that, you just think about the game and that's all I did tonight, so I got through it fine."
He added there was no chance of him playing this weekend for Arsenal against Hull, saying: "Not at all. It's important to recover. You need to be a bit patient, it's not going to happen straight away - the manager will choose to play me when he wants.
"I've been whacked by Mathieu Flamini a few times already so that side of it is not a problem at all! Not many people managed to keep up with me tonight, I didn't get any knocks tonight. I feel fine.
"I'm very excited. It's nice to put on the Arsenal shirt again."
Arsenal's line-up also included Serge Gnabry, the German forward who has been out since March with a knee injury.
