Arsenal's trip to the Reebok Stadium to face Bolton Wanderers on Saturday will be Theo Walcott's fifth away match in a fortnight: a dense schedule for anyone, let alone a teenager used sparingly for club and country until now.

But as you might expect, the 19-year-old is comfortable when his life plays out at pace.

Not surprisingly, English football has enjoyed favouring the lingering sensations from England's 4-1 win over Croatia last week, rolling the taste of that surprise victory around the tongue. Thanks to Walcott's hat-trick it was a performance that will become a reference point, perhaps for years, like the 5-1 win over Germany in Munich seven years ago. However, the winger has been more preoccupied with passing through customs than passing into legend.

Seven days after Croatia, Walcott was in the Ukraine with Arsenal, supplying the cross that enabled William Gallas to scramble a late equaliser against Dynamo Kiev as group G in the Champions League began on Wednesday.

“It's been a very tough few days with a lot of travelling - Andorra (in Barcelona), Croatia, Blackburn, Kiev and now Bolton,” he said. “But it's been really good because I just want to play, that's the main thing.”

The travelling has helped insulate Walcott from the effects of Theomania, though in any case his preternatural maturity and poise suggests that he is equipped to ensure that the trappings of celebrity do not become a trap.

“(The attention) has touched my family more than me,” he said. “We had a few paparazzi outside our house for a long time but I've just got away from it all by concentrating on my football, that's all I can do.

“I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm playing with more confidence, I just love playing for this club and for my country.”

While Walcott's pace will no longer take any defender by surprise, his reputation has become an asset. “It's a nice feeling when a defender is scared of you straight away - it always puts a smile on your face and you think you're going to win the battle. But you have to get at him,” he said.

However, a weapon such as Walcott's speed will inevitably be drawn into conflict. His lithe frame is vulnerable to the various hackers, cloggers and cynics populating the game who believe that the way to deal with destructive pace is to obliterate it at source.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said after the game in Kiev that Andriy Nesmachny, the Dynamo left back, tried to “destroy” Walcott.

“I got kicked a few times but I got up and got on with it,” Walcott said. “You have to keep going to the last minute and that's what I did. Thankfully it paid off when we scored.”