Ben on Arsenal: "This puts down a marker"

Seven years, 228 appearances - and a first for Ben Davies this weekend.

The Welsh international returned to action in this summer’s European Championships having missed the final 10 matches of last season due to injury. He worked overtime to play his part in another memorable tournament for The Dragons as they once again reached the knockout phase of the Euros.

The defender has also returned to action for us in pre-season with cameo appearances at MK Dons last week and Chelsea in the first of our matches in The Mind Series on Wednesday night.

Now he’s gearing up to face Arsenal - his first north London derby in pre-season and, indeed, the first since 1990.

“If you play teams like Arsenal, Chelsea... there is no ‘friendly’ feel about these matches,” said Ben at Hotspur Way on Friday, with a nod to the sheer pace of the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, where we came from 2-0 down to share the spoils.

“It is going to be a competitive game and we all want to win. It puts down a marker for the season. I thought we played much better in the second half at Chelsea, we dug in, and that was a decent result in the end, especially with players still to come back into the team.

“We’re all looking forward to Sunday. It’s a long time since we’ve played in front of a big crowd at the stadium and we’re all looking forward to having them back in there, not least for a north London derby!”