CATCHING UP WITH ...

A derby day special as Gary Mabbutt, Alan Mullery and Darren Anderton – 1,342 Spurs appearances between them – talk all things Arsenal ahead of the first north London derby of the season this afternoon.

– 611 APPEARANCES (1982-1998) CAPTAIN, UEFA CUP, FA CUP WINNER

Alan: “We always had a team meeting and Bill Nicholson would come in every time we were playing Arsenal and say ‘we only need to win two games – and they are both against Arsenal’. He once said ‘I don’t want any losers in here, or you’re out’ and walked out. We thought ‘wow, what’s going on here?’

“The rivalry was immense, 60,000 in the stadium, the same at Highbury. Frank McLintock (former Arsenal captain) is a good friend of mine – outside of football. In those games, we’d kick lumps out of each other! That’s what it was like in those days.”

Gary: “What Mullers is saying is exactly right. I joined in 1982 and the first time the Arsenal game was approaching, it was made clear to me that it was the most important game of the season and no matter what we did for the rest of the campaign, if we beat Arsenal, the fans would always forgive us. With any other game, the build-up would start two or three days beforehand.

“For this one, the build-up would start two weeks before. It was one of the most highly-pressured games and I was lucky to play in 30-odd north London derbies during my career.

Some were dire, but you didn’t care what you did, how well you played, how well the team played – you had to win that game, no matter what.”

Alan: “Once you had the fixture list you’d look immediately for the Arsenal games, no-one else, just Arsenal.”

– 358 APPEARANCES (1992-2004) LEAGUE CUP WINNER, CLUB RECORD PREMIER LEAGUE APPEARANCES (299)