Theo Walcott's time with England will come again once he becomes a regular at Arsenal, says John Barnes

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EXCLUSIVE

John Barnes believes Roy Hodgson is justified in leaving Theo Walcott out of his provisional England squad for this summer's European Championships, but says the Arsenal forward's international career is not over yet.

Walcott was omitted from Hodgson's 26-man squad for Euro 2016, which begins on 10 June in France, with the England coach saying the 27-year-old's lack of regular game time with the Gunners and his injury woes last season are the reasons behind his decision.

The omission comes nearly 10 years after Walcott, then aged 17 and yet to make a first-team appearance for Arsenal, was suprisingly picked for the 2006 World Cup in Germany by Sven-Goran Eriksson.

But after scoring just nine goals in all competitions for Arsenal last season and being left out of the provisional England squad for Euro 2016, Walcott's international future has been called into question.

However, former England winger Barnes doesn't believe the future is bleak for Walcott but says the forward must play regularly at Arsenal if he wants to regain his place in Hodgson's team.

"There is no player, apart from Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy, who should be in the squad," he told Standard Sport.

"There are not many players to come in and choose from. He [Walcott] has not featured for Arsenal and I don't think Theo would necessarily be one of the first names on the teamsheet of an England side in the past, so the fact he hasn't played a lot doesn't mean he should have been in the squad.

"It's not that much of a surprise. But we have a lot of young players in the side so we need experience. He's not really featured that heavily [last season].

"He's not Wayne Rooney. If he didn't feature for Manchester United, I'd still think you'd need Wayne in the squad.

"Theo's time will come again after playing more regularly."

John Barnes was speaking to us while training up mascots with Emirates ahead of the Emirates FA Cup Final. Find out more at www.facebook.com/TheFACup

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