The Gooner will feature an Interview with a certain Johnnie Jackson in its next edition (on sale at the Manchester City and Fulham matches). Johnnie is my cousin, and is currently a Notts County player, but those with good memories may recall him being on Spurs books, making 20 first team appearances under Martin Jol, not least in the side that faced the Unbeatables when Arsenal won the league at the Lane in 2004.

I interviewed Johnnie for the fanzine because I know him as a hardcore Gooner, and wanted to get the inside track on what it is like to grow up supporting Arsenal only to ply your trade for the enemy. As a trailer for the full interview, here’s a snippet of our conversation, including the subject of this evening’s game…

Joe Mardon: Were the players and staff at Spurs aware you were a Gooner? Did the Arsenal inside you ever come out in a Tottenham environment?

Johnnie Jackson: Ha ha. Yes, people knew. Arsenal were playing Villarreal in the Champions League Semi Final second leg. The game was into its second half as we boarded the Spurs reserve team coach after a game of our own. We had it on the TV. As you know, Arsenal conceded the late penalty. This triggered our manager at the time, Clive Allen, to come running down the coach waving his fists in my face with delight. I remained calm... until Jens Lehmann saved the penalty. Then I erupted and duly returned the favour, screaming with joy right in Clive's face! My emotions also got the better of me once at White Hart Lane during Arsenal's 5-4 victory (Nov 2004). I wasn't part of the Spurs squad so was watching from the stands. Ljungberg went down under a strong Pamarot tackle and I jumped up appealing for a penalty! I quickly realised where I was, before accusing Ljungberg of diving and sitting back down sharpish!

Looking towards the huge North London derby on Wednesday, firstly, where will you be watching it?

I'll be watching the game with the father-in-law (a devout Spurs fan) hoping I can rub his nose in it!

Now you’re no longer at Spurs, do you look out for their results with any sense of wanting your old club to be doing ok when they are not playing Arsenal?

I want them beat more than ever! Probably a mixture of being a bit bitter and being a Gooner! Also a lot of my pals now are Spurs as well as the wife's family so I don't want to see them do well

Having played in the derby, what is the Spurs mentality when they face Arsenal? At White Hart Lane they always seem to come firing out the traps, often taking an early lead, before becoming increasingly nervous as the game unwinds?

Spurs will see this as a great opportunity to finally beat us. They'll look at our injury situation and fancy their chances to effectively end our title hopes. That will be a big carrot for them. But we've heard all that before!! I expect them to start well as usual, possibly taking the lead, but we'll reel them back in! I think a draw is the most obvious result, but would obviously love a win, which would see us right back in the title shake up.

*Follow my Arsenal ramblings on Twitter @TheArsenal_