"He has been great for us. He's an English lad and great to have around."
England international Wilshere will have to wait for his fourth appearance as he misses Saturday's clash with Fulham after being sent off in last weekend's 2-1 defeat at Manchester United – something the midfielder is trying to see in a positive light.
He said: "I am gutted to miss Fulham after being out for so long. It's disappointing to miss any game but if I think about it another way, maybe it will be good for me to have a little break and come back for the Tottenham game [a week later].
"It is difficult [to be out for so long] for any player and especially for me — I was 19 and just breaking into the footballing world and coming into the team. I'd had a good season and was looking to push on next season.
"To have a setback like that was heartbreaking but now I'm back. I am still doing my maintenance work in the gym and am keeping fit.
"Hopefully now I can keep fit and push on. It [the original ankle injury] was serious, of course. It kept me out for so long but it wasn't the result of a bad tackle or anything where it was career threatening. It was just something that happened over time.
"I knew it would take time to heal and then I suffered a few setbacks. Obviously you then question yourself and say, 'Am I going to come back to the level that I was at before?' Hopefully, now I can get back to training well. Every day I need to work hard and get back up to the level I was at.
"Last night, I felt better than I did over the weekend and the weekend before that, so I am feeling better after each game.
"It's a long season, so I need to take it easy a bit but I am looking forward."
Walcott, after his first European start of the season, said: "It is nice to be back playing with the guys, that is all I want to be doing now."
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