Having grown up as a Stoke fan and spent nine years there as a player, Steve Bould knows all about Sunday's opponents.
The Arsenal assistant manager was asked how much focus will be on the game against the Potters when we face CSKA Moscow in the Europa League four days later and this is what he said:
on what he expects from Stoke…
They’re all tough games. It’s a cliche but whoever we’re playing, every team in this division now is very strong. They need points, we need points, it’s a tough game.
on what Paul Lambert has brought to Stoke…
Well, I’m not sure how different he is. We’re not sure whether he’ll play Crouchy and give us a problem. They’ve got good players all through the squad. Every squad and every team is strong now so it’s a tough game.
on how much focus is on the Europa League game...
At this present moment honestly, not an awful great deal. We’re concentrating on Sunday. It’s a big game for us, we need a result.
on whether they believe they can still get top four...
Look, it’s tough. The manager said it’s tough and of course it’s tough. We’re not stupid. But you never know. Winning games is much better than not if we’re going to win a Europa League final. To win games now is better for us, so the more games we can win now the better the season becomes and what happens in the end is what happens.
on whether they’re placing their main focus on the Europa League...
I’m not sure we have, no. As far as I'm concerned it's a big game on Sunday for us. We could do with a win. We need to pick up a win, we need to play well and get players fit again and get a full squad and see where we go from there.
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