Theo Walcott hails team effort after win against Stoke City

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott, whose 10 goals this season have earned him an early Christmas present from his wife, has said the entire team is working hard. The 27-year-old started on the right and managed to score the equaliser right before half time, which allowed the Gunners to get a foothold in the game.

Walcott had gone off the boil in recent weeks but the return of Hector Bellerin from injury means that he can slot inside and play as a second forward, which allows him to get into good goalscoring positions. He could have got another chance in the second half to double his tally, but the Stoke goalkeeper made a good save to thwart his effort and keep the score down to 3-1.

Alex Iwobi and Mesut Ozil were the other scorers on the day as the Gunners end the week having scored 12 goals against West Ham, Basel and Stoke. Their next two games are away to Everton and Manchester City, where they have to be at their very best to take something from the fixtures.

"It's going well for us at the moment," Walcott told Arsenal's official website. "The use of the squad as well - I can't praise enough the amount of players that are ready when they're called upon. Obviously like Alex did today - 2-1 is not a nice sort of score at the time but he had a fantastic finish after great work from Alexis.

"Time to get my coffee machine my wife promised me! I've got my 10 for the season at the moment - I want to make it much, much more.

"But more importantly I want this team to win something. But like I say, it's all come down to hard work. Me personally, I've been working really hard and I think it's just breeding into the whole team and that's what the team is about."