Arsene Wenger does not discriminate between selecting English players and foreigners for his Arsenal side.

The Premiership champions meet neighbours Tottenham in the first north London derby of the season on Saturday with manager Wenger handing a Premiership debut to his Swedish goalkeeper Rami Shaaban, who steps in for David Seaman who has a groin injury.

The latest foreigner to appear for the Arsenal side, Shaaban, who kept a clean sheet in the goalless draw with PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday, is selected ahead of Stuart Taylor.

Arsenal ended the PSV game without an Englishman on the field but Wenger said he has no intention of constructing his side that way.

"When you pick a team for Saturday, you don't look at the passport," said Frenchman Wenger.

"If I spent what I did for Francis Jeffers, it shows I am conscious of the problem and I want some English faces but it would be offensive to the English players if I said that you are playing because you are English.

"I hope I might never have to say that to anyone."

Wenger insisted he was not aware there were no Englishmen on the field against PSV in a game which Arsenal started with striker Jeffers, whom they signed from Everton before the start of last season.

"For me, above all, they are Arsenal players," added Wenger.

"I don't make a difference between Patrick Vieira as French of English - he is an Arsenal player in everyone's minds.

"Usually we have English players in there. If the players have the quality, they come out.

"Last week, France beat England 4-0 in an under-18 international. So you can say what you want.

"At the end of the day, are they or aren't they good enough?

"In the club I would prefer to have 20 English players but, if I lose every game, the fans would say buy foreigners.

"France started their development of a youth academy 20 years before England, who have corrected it now but it might take five to six years."

One Englishman Wenger will welcome back into the side on Saturday is former Spurs star Sol Campbell, who returns after a back injury forced him out of the PSV match.

Last season Campbell suffered intolerable abuse when he went back to White Hart Lane where the sides shared a 1-1 draw, with Arsenal winning 2-1 when they played at Highbury.

Wenger remains acutely aware of how tense this derby can be, and the affect these games can have on league position.

He said: "For us it is three points and as manager, as you go through a season, you know that the position you finish in at the end of the year will depend as well on how well you do in the derbies.

"It has a big meaning for us and there is always a special excitement and rivalry. But at the moment we play so many big games, it is difficult to make a difference.

"When you play the Manchester Uniteds or Liverpools you know that something is at stake and it might decide the final position at the end of the year.

"When you play Tottenham, it is prestige and rivalry, the same excitement but a bit different."

Glenn Hoddle insists now is as good a time as any for his Tottenham team to be facing rheir arch-rivals.

Spurs visit Highbury for the north-London derby on Saturday on the back of an embarrassing Worthington Cup defeat at the hands of Burnley and then a loss at struggling Sunderland.

Arsenal are also emerging from their own sticky spell in recent weeks, and Spurs boss Hoddle believes the form book will go out the window.

"I think a derby game against Arsenal is always a massive game - whenever it comes up, what ever form you're in, whatever time of year," said Hoddle. "We all know that there is a lot of pride at stake.

"We've come off a draw and two losses, are having a bit of a blip and have got to turn it around. There is no better way to turn it around than winning against Arsenal.

"They are not in the greatest of shape, having won only one game in the last six or seven. Form goes out of the window to a certain degree when you play this game."

Two players in their first season at Spurs - Jamie Redknapp and Robbie Keane - are looking forward to sampling their first north-London derby.

Redknapp said: "I've heard everyone talking about it and this is as passionate as any - I know for a fact. Obviously there are all different reasons why and it's going to be good - I'm really looking forward to it.

"It's going to be really good and we need a result. We've got Leeds coming up and we want to go into that game full of confidence and not thinking we are desperate for a win."

Keane added: "I just missed out on the Milan derby when I was at Inter but I played for Wolves against West Brom, which is fairly tasty and Leeds v Manchester United is obviously big, but there is always a lot of talk about Tottenham against Arsenal and I can imagine it's one of the biggest around.

"I'm looking forward to it because these occasions don't come around that often.

"It will be a tough game, they are doing well, but anything can happen in a derby game, they are always hyped up and often don't turn out how people expect.

"I'm sure there will be a lot of battles out there, a few tackles flying in and it should be a good game. We're all looking forward to it. We want a result in every game but we know how important this one is for the fans. It would be nice to get something out of it."

Ledley King and Christian Ziege are back in the Spurs squad for the short trip to Highbury.

King has not featured this season because of a hip injury, while Ziege has been out for eight weeks with a calf problem, but both defenders came through a reserve game against Leicester this week.

Les Ferdinand and Matthew Etherington have both returned to training following back and ankle problems respectively, which means only Neil Sullivan (broken thumb), Mauricio Taricco (groin) and Anthony Gardner (knee) are on the injured list.

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