ARSENE WENGER’S trepidation about crossing the northwest frontier is akin to that of a virgin straying into Transylvania after nightfall. Last season he accused yesterday’s hosts of having “a desire of violence” against his players.

On Friday he was, predictably, speaking darkly beforehand of malevolence towards his players, and demanding protection for them, and in particular, the slight figure of Theo Walcott, who, contrary to all prophecies that he would be rested after his hat-trick for England in Zagreb, was named in Arsenal’s starting XI yesterday.

This was the first of two Premier League trips in the area in eight days – they are at Bolton next Saturday – either side of a Champions League fixture at Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, and the sequence that follows the international break already has the Frenchman chuntering about fixture scheduling.

However, he evidently believed that a buoyant Walcott’s momentum would carry him through. “I was thinking about leaving him out, but for the balance of the team I wanted to play him. I wanted to rest [Nicklas] Bendtner, and Theo away from home would give us penetration.”

How right Wenger was. From the moment the 19-year-old fashioned Arsenal’s opening goal, seizing the ball, shimmying past a couple of tackles and releasing Robin van Persie with an impeccable ball that the Dutchman slid home with aplomb, he repaid Wenger for his faith.

Walcott was everywhere; hugging the left initially, seeing duty on the right in the second half, and, at times, drifting into central positions. Inevitably, the questioning of Wenger afterwards all concerned his prodigy, despite the fact that a hat-trick was secured, from the foot and head of Emmanuel Adebayor.

Though they made half-chances, it was a pallid display from Rovers. How much that was a consequence of their manager Paul Ince being linked with the Newcastle vacancy was difficult to discern. He described those reports as speculation but suspects that they didn’t help Blackburn’s cause.

Once they fell behind to Van Persie’s eighth-minute goal, there was an inevitability about the outcome. Roque Santa Cruz would have equalised within seconds but for Kolo Toure deflecting the ball over his own bar. From the resulting corner, Adebayor dashed clear and found Walcott, who attempted to curl the ball wide of goalkeeper Paul Robinson. It had the confidence of Wednesday’s hat-trick man written all over it.

Unfortunately for him, not the accuracy. Walcott was then prominent again, this time scampering down the right, but from his pass, Van Persie squeezed his volley narrowly wide. Between those Arsenal openings, they hardly looked secure on the retreat. Brett Emerton shot but within Manuel Almunia’s comfort zone, Steven Reid misjudged a good heading chance from a corner, and then Emerton again supplied an inviting low cross, but nobody was in position to apply the finish.

Just before the interval, Santa Cruz headed over an Emerton cross before, in added time, Arsenal made the points safe. Another sublime Arsenal passing movement – 20, according to Wenger – and the culmination was Denilson crossing from the left for Adebayor, unmarked, to head home his first league goal of the campaign.

After the break, the visitors began to toy with their hosts. Walcott was again instrumental in Arsenal’s best work, but his attempts were wide or at Robinson.

Eleven minutes from time, Emmanuel Eboue was felled by Stephen Warnock. Adebayor dispatched his second goal from the penalty spot. Blackburn finally looked like they might derive some satisfaction when Santa Cruz set up substitute Benny McCarthy, but a splendid save from Almunia frustrated him.

Adebayor completed his hat-trick when he rounded Robinson after young substitute Aaron Ramsey had played him through. “Despite our youth, we played with maturity,” said Wenger, who made Englishman Jack Wilshere, at 16 years 256 days, the youngest Arsenal player to appear in the league when he brought him on as substitute.