Arsenal striker Thierry Henry claims he was in denial over his physical shape earlier this season and has vowed to heed the symptoms of fatigue in the future.

The France striker was forced to take a break at the end of November to have treatment on a sciatic nerve problem, missing seven matches as a result.

He made a goalscoring return in the 4-0 Barclays Premiership victory against Charlton on Tuesday and is expected to line up against Liverpool in their FA Cup third round clash at Anfield this evening.

But Henry now says he had made a mistake in trying to push himself to play when he clearly was not 100 per cent.

"When you physically can't go on, the wise thing to do is not to go out there. It doesn't help you and it doesn't help the team," he said.

"It's like when you are watching a bad movie with your wife and you are both falling asleep. You will say 'I'm not falling asleep' and you won't admit the film is rubbish. You keep on watching it.

"My brain was like that. When people asked if I was okay I would say 'Yes' even though I knew I wasn't," he told The Sun.

"You have to read the right signals in your body. One thing I have found difficult to do is to listen to my body. I need to do that.

"I hope all my problems are over but when you average over 60 games a season you pay the price."