Dimitar Berbatov plans to prove his commitment to Tottenham Hotspur by helping Juande Ramos's side reach the League Cup final at the expense of bitter rivals Arsenal. Berbatov has grown tired of continued reports that he wants to leave and is determined to concentrate all his efforts on ending Spurs' miserable record against the Gunners in Wednesday's semi-final, first leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Nothing focuses the mind more than the chance to exact revenge over an old enemy. Nine years and 20 matches have passed since Tottenham last savoured a win over their north London neighbours. Arsene Wenger's team have already beaten Spurs twice this season, with December's 2-1 loss particularly painful for Berbatov and company.
Even that defeat paled in comparision to last year's humiliation at the same stage of this competition. Wenger treated both legs of the semi-final as glorified reserve matches and still emerged victorious.
Indeed, Tottenham blew a two-goal first leg lead against Wenger's kids and then slumped out in the return. It was a lesson that will give Spurs extra motivation this time.
Berbatov, the subject of continued transfer talk as Chelsea and Manchester City lead the queue for his signature, knows this is a golden opportunity for his club to reach a first major final since 2002 in the sweetest circumstances. "There is too much speculation around my name, but most of it is foolish," said the Bulgarian.
"It's absurd and I'm tired of seeing my name in the newspapers. I want to live in peace. It is getting too much. I am a Tottenham player and I'm trying to give my best, so I can help my team.
"I'm happy when we play well and I'm miserable when we lose our games. Such hysteria seems to me stupid, I'm not worth so much money. I'm happy at the moment. You can win titles and medals with every team and I can win with Tottenham too."
Wednesday's match is the first of five games in 14 days that will define Ramos's first season in charge. The Spaniard has steadied a club in turmoil when he arrived but success in either the FA or League Cup would provide tangible evidence of that revival.
Two matches against Arsenal will settle their League Cup destiny and sandwiched between those games is an FA Cup third round replay at Reading next week.
Strength in depth
Another season without silverware seems an unlikely prospect for Arsenal. They lead the Premier League and remain in all three cups, so even the loss of Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Alex Song to the CAF Africa Cup of Nations has not shaken Wenger's confidence in his squad.
"I consider the three players going to Africa to be injured, so if they were injured, they would not play," Wenger said. "The day they get out of the competition, they are not injured any more and so you get them back.
"I have a squad and I am not afraid to use it. We went to Everton with Bendtner and Eduardo up front like we did today. I rotate the squad. I rested some players at Burnley because we had a busy Christmas period."
As usual in the League Cup, Wenger will field a relatively inexperienced side, but the likes of Denilson, Abou Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner have showed their class already this season, so Spurs would be foolish to underestimate them.
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