Jack Wilshere has expressed his desire to fight for a place in Arsenal's first team as he simultaneously bids to make the England squad for the 2018 World Cup.
The 25-year-old, who has endured several difficult years due to injury and loss of form, is out of contract at the end of the campaign and has yet to start in the Premier League this season.
Wilshere scored his first club goal in two-and-a-half years in Thursday's 6-0 win over BATE Borisov in the Europa League but failed to make the starting XI for Sunday's trip to Southampton.
The Englishman is eager to remain with Arsenal but there has been no offer of a new contract from the club, although he does not let the uncertainty play on his mind.
"Nothing else goes through your head when you're playing, except who you are playing against and what you can do to affect the game," Wilshere told The Telegraph. "If I'm on the bench in a Premier League game, I'm thinking, 'What can I do coming off the bench?'
"When I'm at home, maybe you think, 'What's going to happen? I've only got six months left.' But once I'm at the training ground, I'm focused, preparing for the next game.
"I want to play for my country. The manager (Gareth Southgate) seems to not favour me. He said he wants me to be playing regularly in the Premier League and fair enough, that's what I have to do."
Wilshere spent last season on loan at Bournemouth and has made only three Premier League starts for the Gunners since November 2014.
Giuseppe Labellarte
