Arsenal's Theo Walcott: England's winning run won't matter when we play tournament football

Theo striking fear: Walcott got a goal for England against Estonia
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James Benge10 October 2015

Theo Walcott has warned his England team-mates that nine wins out of nine qualifying games counts for nothing if they fail to perform in France next summer.

Roy Hodgson’s side have recovered well from their disappointing World Cup and remain the only team with a 100 per cent record in qualifying after a 2-0 win over Estonia at Wembley.

With just one competitive game to go before England head to France next summer Walcott was keen to ensure England maintain their commendable record against Lithuania on Monday.

"We have to be proud of ourselves," the Arsenal forward said.

"Having nine wins after the disappointment from the World Cup and bouncing back the way the players have done - the backroom staff have changed things and things are working for us. This team is definitely hungry and eager to do well.”

Despite England’s fine run of results recent failures at major tournaments have left few expecting success at Euro 2016, and Walcott, who scored his eighth goal for England late in the first half, knows they need to impress in upcoming friendlies against France and Spain to build optimism.

Player Ratings: England vs Estonia

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"We want to make it 10 on Monday night. It is a nice little thing to have - we want to win every game but we will be more tested in these friendlies coming up and everyone wants to win competitions and make this country proud.

"There are some young, eager faces in that dressing room who are keen to do well but we are only going to be judged when it comes to tournament football."

Should England beat the team ranked 116th in the world it will be the first time they have gone through an entire qualifying campaign without dropping any points.

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