Theo Walcott believes the return of Jack Wilshere will be as good as a new signing for Arsenal.
Wilshere has not played for the Gunners since he hobbled out of their Emirates Cup tie with New York Red Bulls with an ankle injury on July 31.
The 20-year-old has undergone surgery to cure the problem and, after successful rehabilitation, could be back in the Arsenal first-team as soon as February.
But Walcott, while clearly delighted by the prospect of his England team-mate's return, has warned not to expect too much too soon from the midfielder.
Important
"Seeing Jack in and around the dressing room and treatment room, he is as happy as ever," Walcott told Arsenal Player.
"He's had a new step in his life with a new-born baby, which is great, and he is also a very important player for us. Obviously he won the Young Player of the Year award last year which was deserved. He's also played for England and now he just needs to get back out on that pitch.
"You have to ease him back into it because he's had a long time out and he's only just turned 20. He has a long career ahead of him so we don't want to be overplaying him. But we'll use him the right way, I'm sure of it."
Walcott has also spoke of his determination to contribute more to Arsenal's goal-tally in 2012.
The Arsenal and England winger set up a sizeable chunk of Robin van Persie's 35 Premier League strikes in 2011, while scoring eight in all competitions himself, but he wants more in 2012.
"I had quite a good scoring year in 2011 with a lot of assists, which I'm happy with," Walcott added.
"This season I think I need to get in among the goals a bit more maybe - I only have four. But I'm happy if the team's winning and I'm getting assists for the main man up front.
"I'm doing my job and you have to be effective going forward. That's what I've been doing so far."
Drought
Walcott's other New Year's resolution is to end Arsenal's wait for a trophy by getting his hands on one of the three prizes still up for grabs.
And he is confident the current squad of players are capable of ending the club's much-maligned trophy drought.
"I think we've had so much experience of almost getting there - quarter-finals, the final of the Carling Cup for example - and we just want a bit more," he said.
"We obviously want to win the Premier League, we want to win every competition we enter. It's been a long time since we won something and for me personally, I want to win even more now as well.
"Fingers crossed we can all stay fit, which is quite important. In seasons before we've had a lot of injuries that have stuttered us slightly and that doesn't help the team. But it's a squad thing, and the important thing is that we keep a lot of players fit."
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