Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says Theo Walcott has the ability to make an impact every time he sets foot on the field.

Walcott's meteoric rise as a 16-year-old put him in the spotlight long before many players get a first-team chance and his hat-trick in Croatia at the start of the World Cup qualifying campaign in 2008 raised expectations even higher.

Wenger agrees but he believes that Walcott is often involved in the decisive moments for club and country.

"I think he can make a decisive impact in every single game," he said. "Even in that game, you can say 'OK he had not a great game', maybe, but he was efficient. And that's the problem.

"When you look at Theo, he's a player who you think sometimes 'he could have contributed more then', but then you think 'who scored the goal?' Him. Or 'who made the pass?' It's him. He's a player who is efficient."