Injury Won't Stop Danny Welbeck Making His Point vs. Manchester United

According to SkySports, Danny Welbeck is an injury doubt for Saturday’s game with Manchester United. In the second half of a typically energetic display for England against Scotland, Welbeck pulled up clutching his hamstring.

However, it will need to be some injury to stop him playing at the weekend: Welbeck will be absolutely determined to face his former club.

The way Welbeck picked up his injury tells you everything about him. From the first minute, he embraced the physical nature of the contest with Scotland.

Welbeck might be of Ghanaian parentage, but few players looked quite so fired-up by the encounter between the two British rivals. It was no great surprise when one of many lung-bursting runs saw Welbeck indicate to the bench that his hamstring had tightened up. What will have concerned Arsene Wenger is that, having alerted Roy Hodgson to the problem, he then went haring in to another challenge.

Welbeck’s enthusiasm knows no bounds.

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That vivacious spirit has immediately endeared Welbeck to the Arsenal fans. His speed and intelligent movement has already earned comparisons with the legendary figure of Thierry Henry. Drawing such parallels is undoubtedly premature, but there’s no doubt about it: Welbeck and Arsenal are a good fit.

He's appreciated by his new team-mates too. Mikel Arteta has admitted to Arsenal's official website that Welbeck has exceeded expectations:

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Personally I have been surprised by his technical capacity, the way he understands the game, his work rate.

I rate him more now than I used to and this is a good sign because normally the opposite is true when you watch a player on a daily basis. I’m glad he is with us.

He has got everything here to become one of the best strikers in the Premier League.

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Despite Welbeck's early success, leaving United was still a wrench. The Longsight-born boy had been associated with the club for most of his life. Those bonds are not easily broken. In an exclusive interview with for the Arsenal website, Welbeck has explained his decision:

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When you’ve been somewhere for so long and then you’re going to start a new chapter in your career, you’ve got to think about it a lot. Over the past year or so, I started to think about what’s best for me because at the time I was playing on the left wing a lot and in a 4–4-2, which is very difficult for me because I can’t make an impact on the game. I can play it to the best of my ability but that’s not best for the team, and I could make a bigger impact playing in my preferred position (up front).

"

Thus far, Welbeck has got what he wanted: a consistent run in his best position. Since moving to London on deadline day, he has scored 10 goals in 17 appearances for club and country. He will fancy his chances of adding to that tally against his former club.

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United are enduring a number of defensive problems, and Welbeck’s speed and power is likely to cause them problems. What a moment it would be for him to score against the club that cast him out this summer.

In this era of polite apologies for goals against former club, a Welbeck goal against Van Gaal’s team would surely warrant a celebration.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout the 2014/15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.