Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain would relish the chance to develop his game at the heartbeat of the Arsenal midfield.

The 20-year-old former Saints starlet has just returned from a serious knee injury and hopes an extended run in the side over the final half of the season could lead to winning a place in England's World Cup squad.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was deployed to great effect alongside Jack Wilshere in a central role for the 4-0 FA Cup fourth-round win over Coventry last Friday.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is keen to see more of him there in the seasons ahead.

Could his next game there be tomorrow’s Premier League game against his former club at the ground where Chamberlain made his Football League debut in a third division game almost four years ago aged just 16?

“In the future if I do play in midfield that's an attribute that I won't want to lose, I will want to run with the ball and drive forward, attract defenders and draw then out of position,” he said.

“I don’t know whether I will end up there, that’s for Arsene Wenger to decide, but it’s definitely something I’m excited about the prospect of doing.

“I've always been a midfielder and have only recently gone out to the wing, but wherever I play on the pitch I've just got to make sure I give the best performance I can.”

Arsenal will certainly have to do that if they are to stay ahead of Manchester City and Chelsea when their Premier League campaign resumes at Saints tomorrow.

“It’s very cliche but it’s one game at a time. If you look into the future too much you lose sight go the next game and now that's Southampton and that will be a tough one,” the midfielder said.

“All you can do is look to the next game and make sure you get the right results and make sure you keep plodding along like that step by step. ”

Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Arsenal in the summer of 2011 in a £12m switch from Saints and feels the squad has grown into one capable of sustaining their ambitions.

“The main group and the spine of the team has been together for two or three years so knowing each other better on and off the pitch helps our style of play,” he said. “We know what the boss expects and how he wants us to go about it.