Theo Walcott has insisted he will put club before country after Arsene Wenger was angered by claims the striker would be focused on next summer's World Cup finals.

The Arsenal manager swore twice on Tuesday when he was questioned about the player's chances of appearing for England in South Africa.

Walcott has suffered so badly with knee and back injuries this season that his appearance in last night's 2-0 Champions League win over Standard Liege was only his fourth of the campaign.

But the 20-year-old has reassured Wenger that playing regularly for Arsenal is more important to him than his World Cup ambitions.

“You want to play well for your country and the summer will come if you have a great season,” he said.

“The best way is just to take every game as it comes and not look into the future because you never know what is going to happen. You could have a great season, get injured at the end of it and miss out.

“So I am just going to concentrate on every single game until the end of the season and see where it takes me. I am the sort of person who likes to stay away from it all, the boss is very similar.

“I just concentrate on football and that is the main thing. I don't get involved in all the politics and all that sort of stuff. It is just not me.”

The striker also paid tribute to Wenger and said: “He shows tremendous respect for all the players and we show respect for him. He is always behind us and is looking after us.

“He is trying to make us stick together and everything stays in the dressing room.

“You want to play every game but I have got the best manager behind me and he rests me when called upon.”

The victory against the Belgians secured Arsenal's place in the last 16 but it came at a price, with star left-back Kieran Gibbs facing a three-month lay-off after breaking a metatarsal in a challenge which angered Wenger.

The defender, who has developed into one of the most promising young players in England and an outside bet to make the World Cup squad, was hurt when tackled by Eliaquim Mangala.

Wenger said: “We have to X-ray him. He has a hole in his leg. It was a bad challenge by the No 22 and not his first. Kieran doesn't look good.”

Gibbs, who was having an operation today, was one of a number of casualties last night.

William Gallas picked up a swollen eye, after a clash with team-mate Andrey Arshavin, and a knock to his ankle but should be fit to face Chelsea on Sunday.

Arshavin, who needed staples in his head after the clash, will also be ready to face the Premier League leaders. With Gael Clichy out with a stress fracture in his back, Mikael Silvestre or Armand Traore will take Gibbs's place in the team on Sunday.

Silvestre saw last night's display as a huge improvement on the team's insipid 1-0 defeat at Sunderland.

He said: “I think at Sunderland we lacked a little bit of commitment. You drop one per cent or two per cent and that's it, you get punished. The Sunderland defeat tells us that we can't rest and we have to keep going.”