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Theo Walcott is facing a desperate race against time to be ready for England’s crucial World Cup qualifiers next month.

Walcott has had tests on the stomach injury which kept him out of Arsenal’s win over Stoke on Sunday, and the diagnosis is worse than the Gunners' manager Arsene Wenger first feared.

The winger is expected to be out for a fortnight, which means he could miss the Wembley double header against Montenegro and Poland on October 11 and 15 - which would be a massive blow for Roy Hodgson.

England boss Hodgson is expected to name his squad in around two weeks, making Walcott touch and go to be fit.

The news is also a hammer blow for Wenger, as he already has a huge injury list.

Walcott will definitely miss the Capital One Cup tie with West Brom on Wednesday and is due to sit out the weekend trip to Swansea.

He is also set to miss the Champions League home game against Napoli next Tuesday.

Arsenal are top of the Premier League but Wenger’s depleted squad is already without Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla, leaving him with very limited options in the wide positions.

Wenger is set to rest Jack Wilshere at West Brom - when the Gunners will be chasing an 11th straight away win - and may start fit-again Mikel Arteta.

Thomas Vermaelen, Nacho Monreal and Nicklas Bendtner may also get a chance.