As the Theo Walcott was stretchered off during Arsenal’s 2-0 win against rivals Tottenham, no one including Walcott himself expected that his domestic season, along with his chances of playing in the World Cup were over. The attacker is out for six months, as he begins his long journey back from recovering from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Arsenal are set to suffer in his absence, as he had just made his return in late November and was peaking at just the right time for the league leaders. He now faces a physical as well as an equally demanding mental test to return to his prime from this injury. Wenger however fully believes that the 24-year old will do exactly that, given the tough stuff he is made of, report ESPNFC.

Wenger spoke to Arsenal’s official website and said, “Theo is handling it as well as you can when you have had such a shock because he’s mentally strong, he’s very balanced as a person and he can put it into perspective,”

“We know that he will have the dedication and the serious attitude to come back as strong as ever. The only thing I can say is it’s very sad news for us and above all for him.”

The Frenchman will be patient with Walcott throughout his process of recuperation, having shown the same mentoring to Aaron Ramsey, who has put his horrific injury well past him and is now one of Arsenal’s main men this season. You would expect Walcott to follow in Ramsey’s footsteps given the support he will receive from the Arsenal “family”.