Theo Walcott says Arsenal's players should thrive with the big games looming.

Former Gunners star Walcott says they should welcome the "difficult" games.

He told BBC Sport: "Arsenal are at a stage now where we are talking about them at the level of Manchester City which is credit to Mikel for what he has done.

"I know they lost a lot of points towards the end of last season but the teams they played were teams they would have expected to win against and they didn't. But this time Villa are going for the Champions League so they are a top-four team at this moment.

"The games Arsenal have got coming up are very difficult but I would rather play the difficult games. As a player you want those difficult games and big moments. You want to be the player everyone is talking about. You want to create something, you want to create history - and they can."