Theo Walcott's impressive show on Sunday has prompted Arsenal to delay surgery.
Arsenal are set to delay Theo Walcott's shoulder operation after Abou Diaby picked up an injury in the Carling Cup final, with the teenager making a real impression on manager Arsene Wenger.Walcott has not been at peak form for some weeks and the club felt a shoulder complaint was impacting on his performances.
He had been slated to go for surgery after Sunday's Carling Cup final with Chelsea, but he produced an excellent effort in Cardiff and scored the opening goal in the 2-1 defeat.
And his fine effort combined with an injury to Diaby has prompted Wenger to rethink his plans.
Diaby picked up an ankle injury in the incident which left John Terry unconscious and Wenger now wants Walcott to play on.
"We had planned a shoulder operation for Theo but maybe I will try to delay it because we have lost Abou," Wenger said.
"I wanted to let him have the surgery so he can start next season without any problem. It is not a big operation but it looked to me like he can play with it."
Wenger was delighted with the 17-year-old, as he added: "It was important for Theo to produce a good performance.
"You can score a goal and not play well sometimes, but, in my opinion, he had a very good performance and scored a great goal.
"That is good for us and good news for England."
