Theo Walcott believes Arsenal have developed the mental resilience required to challenge for major trophies, as they look to build on last season's third-place finish in the Premier League and FA Cup triumph.

Walcott ended the last campaign on a high, starting the FA Cup final as Arsenal's lead forward and scoring the opening goal in the Gunners' defeat of Aston Villa at Wembley.

Now he is targeting more success in the upcoming season, as he believes Arsenal are ready to compete with their domestic and European rivals physically and mentally.

"We've learnt not to panic in games because there's a lot of time for us to score goals and win a game," Walcott told the Arsenal website on Sunday.

"That's the crucial thing that the manager has put in our heads. When you frustrate teams it does always create gaps and if someone doesn't do their job properly, then we can kill it.

"I've been in a lot of squads and this is one of the best that I've been involved in. I want to be a part of that. There's something special in this group of players. We've got to keep this group together because I think that successful teams stay together for a long time.

"I think this team can be very successful. The next big step is to challenge for the Premier League. If we'd had our form in the second half of the season, it could have been us coming first.

Theo Walcott believes Arsene Wenger's current side have 'something special.' no_source

"You don't want to use the word 'if' in sport so we want to make sure we do it from the start [this time]."

The England forward has previously stated that he is keen to play in a central striking role and he showed his scoring touch again in last Saturday's victory against Everton in the Barclays Asia Trophy final in Singapore, but the 26-year-old says he is content to play wherever Wenger decides he is best suited this season.

"In modern-day football the three up front tend to change around a lot," he added. "You see it with England and with Barcelona, so we have that sort of trust in each other knowing that everyone can do that sort of role. It's not a problem at all.

"I like it anywhere. I enjoy playing for this club. It's well-documented where I want to play, but there's a lot of competition in that front line. If I'm in a role then I have to do my best there, but it's another option for the manager. It's not a bad thought.

"I'm always going to be judged on goals and I've been very happy with my goal record when I've been given the opportunity, and that's all I can do.

"I enjoy scoring, I want to score for this club and you get a nice feeling of confidence from it as well. The belief that players show in you when you score goals, you're going to get more and more opportunities.

"I am fairly confident. This is my first preseason for two years and I want to work really hard to make sure I'm in the starting line-up for the first game of the season."