Bale braced for Gunners test

Published Apr. 19, 2011 9:15 a.m. ET

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Spurs welcome their North London rivals to White Hart Lane on Wednesday for what could be a pivotal contest for both sides. Arsenal are still holding out hope that they can pip Manchester United to the Premier League title, while Tottenham are pushing hard for a top-four finish. Harry Redknapp's men hit that target last season, with a 2-1 victory over the Gunners a little over 12 months ago aiding their cause considerably. Bale claims that success gave the squad the belief that they could snatch a Champions League place and is looking for history to repeat itself in 2011. The newly-crowned PFA Player of the Year said in The Sun: "I remember last season how big that win over Arsenal was and how it set us up for the run-in. "Not only did it mean we had beaten our closest rivals for the first time in a long time but it kick-started us on the winning streak which took us to fourth and was an amazing achievement. "Now we want to do exactly the same this year. "It would be an even bigger achievement for us after what we've had to go through for the first time." Spurs thoroughly enjoyed their debut campaign in the Champions League, with a fairytale run halted by Spanish giants Real Madrid at the quarter-final stage. Bale believes Redknapp's men are in even better shape to have another crack at the competition next season, but appreciates that overhauling Manchester City for the second successive season will be no easy task. He said: "It was a lot to ask of us to do, both in the Premier League and the Champions League. We've coped with it well, kept ourselves up there in the league and now it's coming to the final straight. "It's going to be difficult but we are up for the challenge and we're going to give it 100 per cent. "We've only got the league to focus on now and we will give it our all to the end of the season. "It was always going to be harder, with City and Chelsea spending so much money and making the competition even harder. But we feel we've got a better squad than other teams, so we can stay up there. "We've won the last two league games against Arsenal, which has been positive. "It's been a long time since we did the double over Arsenal and now we've got a great chance to do that. "It will be a night to remember if we win and do the double to help us climb up the table. It's massively important that we get back in the Champions League."