‘What the supporters have done is pretty unique'

Mikel Arteta has been blown away by the support him and the team have received from our supporters in recent weeks.

Despite a tough start to the season, we have been roared on vociferously at every match this season and our manager believes the crowd will have a huge part to play when we take on Tottenham in his first derby in front of fans.

“I can't wait to have that experience,” he said. “Even right now, after such a long time without them, I have experienced some London derbies but without supporters and I am saying 'supporters' because I think that is the word to describe the people who are behind our football club. 

"What they have done in the last few weeks has been pretty special, they only want what is best for the club and it is very different to just being a fan. 

"A fan and a supporter behave in different ways and what we have experienced in the past two games is pretty unique and is related to our history, it is [from] people who respect and want to promote the values that have been instilled in this club by many people who have been in charge here. 

"It is just a privilege to see how they are able to understand, and the intelligence they have shown because it comes from the knowledge that they know about our history, they know what we want to do, what we want to achieve and they are fully behind the team."