Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is adamant that teammate Theo Walcott is a natural striker.

Walcott, who is out of contract with the Gunners in the summer, is well known to want a permanent place in attack for the North London outfit after spending the majority of his career at the Emirates Stadium on the wings.

However, the 23-year-old scored a hat-trick in the 7-3 win over Newcastle United on Saturday, and Oxlade-Chamberlain believes that Walcott displayed all the necessary attributes that a top forward possesses.

"He definitely has all the attributes to play up front," said Oxlade-Chamberlain. "The goals are coming. He has proven he can do a really good job for us up there.

"For someone with his pace it's hard for anyone to defend against and when he gets the service he can always punish teams so he's doing really well. His performance was amazing. You could see after his first goal he had a spring in his step but he has been like that all season. He has been brilliant.

"Even with all the speculation that's going on, he's stuck to his work. He's a great professional, a good mate and a good lad around the dressing room. We need him to keep scoring goals for as long as he can."

Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott are both likely to be in action when Arsenal travel to their former club Southampton on New Year's Day.