England coach Fabio Capello played down fears of a possible burn-out for Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, highlighting the fact the youngster has been out injured for some time last winter.

The Italian said:

He is young. Stuart Pearce spoke with the players and the player was happy to play with the under-21s.

I also understand Arsene because he said he needed to take a holiday. But he did not play during the winter. His holiday was in the winter.

When you arrive at the end of the season you are not fresh. It is a very long season, here more than the other countries because we have one competition more and in the last three or four years the most important teams, the big four, have been in the semi-final of the Champions League.

I know that not only physically but also mentally you have to be very, very strong for this period and you spend a lot of energy. In Germany there is a mid-season break where play is suspended for one month, then play Sunday-Wednesday, Sunday-Wednesday after that. This is very important.

Here at Christmas you have to play. You have to understand the right of the league and the money for the clubs, it is not easy to find a solution.