Theo Walcott grabbed his eighth England goal to open the scoring last Wembley on Friday night, as the Three Lions won 2-0 against Estonia.

In recent weeks the Arsenal man has lined up front for Arsène Wenger’s side, but was back to playing from the right on Friday evening despite the absence of Wayne Rooney.

Harry Kane was given the nod to start centrally but, before the match, England manager Roy Hodgson said Walcott certainly could play as a striker for the national team.

“Certainly I think Theo could do the job alone as a front player with two guys to support him on either side,” Hodgson said before Theo stepped up and sent England on their way to a ninth consecutive win in European Championships qualifying.

For Arsenal, Walcott is joined by Alexis Sánchez from the left. It gives a very fluid feel to Wenger’s side, and Hodgson is happy to consider his team just as malleable.

“[Theo] could certainly do a job as one of two if ever you wanted to go back to 4-4-2 or a diamond formation,” the England manager added.

“I think one of the things that’s pleased me recently is we do seem to have a few more options with the type of players we have to, without changing our principles in any way, or changing the way we like to play in any way, we can actually tweak the formation.”

In recent games, Walcott has shown a greater ability to hold up the ball or show some awareness for players off the ball around him.

Improving those traits, in addition to the clinical finishing we saw on Friday, will stand him in good stead if and when he is asked to assume a central role.