DETERMINED Theo Walcott said how he played through the pain barrier to net his first goal since returning to Saints – after revealing he had broken bone in his left wrist.

Walcott still had his wrist and hand heavily strapped during the 1-1 draw at Wolves on Monday night – having sustained a broken third carpal against Newcastle before the international break.

It did not however stop him from finding the opener for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side at Molineux – as they went on to stretch to seven games their unbeaten run.

Asked for an update on the injury, former England man Walcott told the Daily Echo: “I’ve broken my third carpal – so I’ve got to strap it up. I’ve got to look after it.

“I whacked it in the first half but I’ve just got to get on with it.

“I managed to play through a lot of pain, so it’s fine.”

Saints academy product Walcott managed to tap in Che Adams’s ball across goal at Wolves – the front two combining for the second game on the spin.

It was his first strike for his boyhood club in more than 5,000 days – his last coming in January 2006 as a teenager.

“The goal has been a long time,” he added. “You could just tell by my smile – that smile says enough for me.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t hang on but Wolves are a very good team. They are very good and they seem to get better as the game goes on as well.

“It just shows we have a lot of fight in this team. A lot of teams won’t come to Wolves and get results at all.

“We’ve got to be proud of that result and it feels like a win in some cases.”

The Saints forward did have the opportunity to make it 2-0 when he raced in one-on-one with goalkeeper Rui Patricio – but failed to hit the target when looking to place the ball in the far corner.

“It’s a shame - I obviously had a (second) chance to hit it in the goal but it just wasn’t meant to be after the (first) goal,” said Walcott.

“But the manager is very pleased with the point in the end because it’s not an easy game.”

Wolves levelled through Pedro Neto with 15 minutes remaining, meaning Saints sit fifth in the top flight.