Kolo Toure believes he has a "nasty" streak that can help Arsenal put their Premier League title bid back on track.
The Gunners head to Bolton in their worst run of league form in nine seasons after taking only four points from the last five games to allow both Manchester United and Chelsea to overtake them at the top of the table.
Manager Arsene Wenger believes his side have paid a high price for some poor defensive displays - which was evident at Stamford Bridge last weekend where Toure and central partner William Gallas failed to deal with the threat of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka as the Blues came from behind to win 2-1.
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Ivory Coast international Toure, 27, has, though, been one of the most consistent performers since he came into the first team.
The mild-mannered African, who arrived at Highbury in February 2002, learned from legendary former Gunners such as Tony Adams and Martin Keown, who were renowned for their no-nonsense approach.
"One who really helped me a lot was Martin Keown," Toure said, speaking in the April edition of the official Arsenal magazine.
"I have played with him several times and he helped me establish myself in the squad.
"He (was) always giving me advice, teaching me some of the intelligent things and also some nasty things you need to do in the game.
"Martin was an amazing player for Arsenal. He had a great career and had a good attitude on the pitch - he was always involved, always helping the team, always pushing people to encourage each other and raising the level because you can't rely on just one person to do that."
Despite now trailing leaders Manchester United by six points - and one behind Chelsea - Arsenal are still not yet out of the title race, as key fixtures between the top three are still to come.
Toure accepts it is a tough battle for the championship, but insists the Gunners must focus only on their own performances rather than worry about what might happen elsewhere.
"It seems that this season the title race involves three teams and this shows that the league is really strong at the moment," he said.
"But we have to concentrate on ourselves, and on what we have to do over the remaining games - if we win the rest of our games we will have a great chance of winning the title."
Wenger reported a clean bill of health from those who returned from international duty to the training ground yesterday morning before he set off to the Emirates Stadium where French president Nicolas Sarkozy met Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
However, the Gunners will be missing full-back Bacary Sagna, set to be out for up to a month after suffering an ankle injury at Chelsea.
"It is a big blow because he has been a revelation for us, a fantastic player," said Wenger, whose side face Liverpool three times in a week after the Bolton game as they resume Champions League action.
The Arsenal manager accepts his team must tighten up at the back if they are to put pressure on leaders United.
Wenger said: "What we want to do is perform well as a team again and we know we can do that.
"At Chelsea we played okay, but we have to improve. Recently what punished us a lot is that defensively we have made big mistakes."
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £36.50 ON SOUTHEND v DONCASTER
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Friday evening's League One Play-Off clash between Southend and Doncaster, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 7.45pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £36.50, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £36.50 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match and we will collect £107.50 if Doncaster win, £107.50 if Southend win and £107.81 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Place £20.00 on Doncaster at 2.75 (7/4) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Doncaster as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Doncaster.
Back the draw with £26.00 at 3.3 (9/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Southend at 2.15 (23/20) with Extrabet.
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Southend.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Doncaster win, you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £107.81. That's £82.81 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Southend win you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Southend v Doncaster match is no draw and you make £36.50 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £36.81. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
