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LONDON. — Arsene Wenger is convinced Theo Walcott can become a prolific striker after the England international scored the opener in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Stoke.

Olivier Giroud came off the bench to grab the Gunners’ decisive second goal five minutes from time as Stoke suffered an eighth consecutive defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

But Wenger was most encouraged by the way Walcott netted his first goal of the campaign when he latched onto a long ball forward from Mesut Ozil and fired home in the 31st minute.

Despite the Gunners missing a raft of chances, Wenger was pleased with many aspects of the victory and believes Walcott, usually deployed as a winger, will benefit from the boost in confidence he will gain from playing regularly in the central striker’s role. “Theo can find little pockets of space, which he did against a very organised, compact Stoke defence,” Wenger said. — AFP.