Tottenham Hotspur as good as Arsenal - Robbie Keane

By Adithya Ananth

Tottenham Hotspur captain Robbie Keane has claimed that his side are as good as Arsenal, ahead of the much-anticipated north London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Republic of Ireland international believes that Spurs are not only as good as their arch-rivals, but has gone on to claim that they have a better strength in depth when compared to Arsene Wenger's squad.

"You look at the two squads and we're definitely on a par," said the skipper.

"In the last four or five years, Arsenal always managed to get ahead of us but if you look now, it is even.

"It will be judged at the end of the season but if you look at the bench we have, it is probably a little bit stronger than their bench."

He continued: "The mentality around the club in previous seasons was that we would be happy to finish fifth, or qualify for the UEFA Cup [presently called the Europa League], but there is a different feeling now. The players have the feeling that we want to get to the Champions League.

"You can take away Saturday's game, because anything can happen in a north London derby, but we need to be judging ourselves against teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea over the season."

Despite all the positives so far this season, the forward is not counting his chickens before they are hatched.

"It's still early days, but we're in the top four now, so it's important we stay where we are," he added.

"If we can get to Christmas still around there, we'd certainly have every chance."