LONDON -- Arsene Wenger has urged Roy Hodgson to take Theo Walcott to the European Championship, saying the Arsenal forward could be a "positive surprise" for England.
Walcott has had a disappointing season with Arsenal and has fallen out of Wenger's starting lineup recently, putting his place in Hodgson's England squad at serious risk.
But the injuries to Arsenal teammates Danny Welbeck and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may have boosted Walcott's hopes of going to France, and Wenger said the pacey forward is getting back to his best.
"I think he should go. He has gone through a bad spell, yes it's true. After the Man United game [in February] he had a difficult period. But in the last months he has come back very strong, and worked extremely hard in training. I think he could be a positive surprise for England."
Despite having been an England international for 10 years, Walcott has only played in one major tournament so far. He rose to fame at 17 when he was selected by Sven-Goran Eriksson for England's 2006 World Cup squad despite not having played a single Premier League game for Arsenal, but never came off the bench.
He was then left out of Fabio Capello's 2010 World Cup squad and missed the 2014 tournament in Brazil with an injury.
He did play at Euro 2012, when he came on as a substitute against Sweden and scored an equaliser for a 2-2 draw before setting up Welbeck for England's winner.
Wenger also said he expects Hodgson to pick Jack Wilshere, even though the midfielder has only made two substitute appearances this season after coming back from a long-term ankle injury.
"He's an important player in [Hodgson's] mind because of his passing qualities and dribbling qualities," Wenger said, adding that Wilshere's lack of playing time this season "could work in his favour."
"Who will be the star player? Sometimes it can be a player with less than 60 games in his legs," Wenger said. "Sometimes it's players who have just arrived at a good moment in form.
"Players like [Daniel] Sturridge who didn't have a long season behind him could do well, and Wilshere for example. They are players who could be in form."