Despite being set to break Ryan Giggs’ record of 633 Premier League appearances, West Brom’s Gareth Barry insists that he won’t be smiling unless his side get a ‘positive result’ on Monday night.
Gareth Barry insists that he won’t allow his personal achievement of surpassing Giggs’ Premier League appearance record overshadow West Brom’s clash against Arsenal at the Emirates on Monday night.
“The number I’ll achieve is an individual one. Football is a team game. My family will be at the game but there won’t be a smile on my face after anything other than a positive result,” Barry said, reports West Brom’s website.
“As crazy as it sounds after all these years, my focus will be on winning the game.
“When you make your debut as a young kid you’re never setting yourself a target like this. Even when you play 500 games you think you’re coming to the end of your career and you’re not expecting to play many more games.
“It’s certainly something that when I do end up finishing I’ll sit back and be really proud of. I’ll try and take in what’s happened in between a little bit more.”
The 36-year-old has already equaled Giggs’ record of 632 Premier League appearances and while he’s yet to break the former Manchester United’s midfielder’s record just yet, it’s a fairly safe bet that Monday will be the night.
Unfortunately for the midfielder, who Wenger apparently tried to sign while he was at Aston Villa, his side are unlikely to get a ‘positive result’.
Since Arsenal first faced the Baggies in the FA Cup in 1901, the Gunners have won 70 times and West Brom have won 38. We’ve drawn 30.
Last time we faced each other, it was in March last season and Arsenal lost 3-1 at the Hawthorns in a match that summed up how dismally the Gunners were playing at that point in the season. Arsene Wenger has now lost five matches out of 18 against Tony Pulis. However, as this clash is at the Emirates, hopefully Barry won’t be smiling by the end.