Having spent seven years in London as a player, 1997-2001 at Chelsea, 2001-2004 as a Spur, the all-action midfielder had plenty of those capital clashes to get stuck in to.

And he did exactly that. He scored a famous last-minute equaliser in his first NLD in 2001 – Sol Campbell’s infamous first return to the Lane – and then played a key role in one of our best performances this century – the 5-1 win in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final in January, 2002.

Retiring after his 98 appearances (23 goals) in Lilywhite, Gus then took that will to win onto the touchline as Juande Ramos’ assistant in 2007-2008 – first, repeating that League Cup semi-final, second leg scoreline from 2002, this time a 5-1 win against Arsenal, before beating his former team 2-1 in the final as we came from behind with goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jonathan Woodgate.

A recent visitor to Hotspur Way, Gus gave us a fascinating insight into the rivalrly between N17 and SW6 as we prepare for our latest trip to the Bridge in the Premier League on Saturday (5.30pm UK).

Q1 | I watched you play for Chelsea against us, and then when you played for us against Chelsea, your eyes lit up. Tell us about that…

Gus: “Yeah, two things. One, it was the situation between the two teams. I was at Chelsea and the record had gone to 20-plus games without losing against Spurs, and from one day to the other, you find yourself on the other side trying to change that, not accepting it. So, I went into those games thinking, ‘I'm going to win against Chelsea, somehow’. Also, I wanted to prove I was still in a good position to play. Of course, I was then suspended the first time we played Chelsea in my first season here, incredible! Then we played in the semi-final of the League Cup, two legs. We lost in the first leg (2-1) at Stamford Bridge, but then we destroyed them 5-1 in the second leg – that’s one I will always remember!”

Q2 | It’s fair to say two of your best moments at Spurs came against Chelsea – starting with that 5-1 win in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final in 2002…

Gus: “I remember the meeting at the hotel with our psychologist at the time, the players were a bit quiet – I went crazy! I was trying to tell everybody, 'you know what, let's have a fight! Let's have a 7vs7! Let's not play like always, because we haven’t won, and we need to win!' Then, in the tunnel, we went into the game with an incredible mentality. I don't remember another game, except the derbies against Arsenal, seeing the team like that in the tunnel. The consequence was that we scored after one or two minutes! That was just the start. Everything worked so well. I remember Teddy Sheringham’s goal (Gus chested the ball back to Teddy, who volleyed home from 20 yards), where I chested the ball down do him. Incredible. So, there are things… but specifically it was time, you know, to change that situation around.”

Q3 | Then the 2008 League Cup Final…

Gus: “I'm going to tell you a few things about that day. Now, I think it’s the moment to tell the stories, and they are good stories. One is Pascal Chimbonda. He got injured on Thursday, didn’t train on Friday. On the Saturday, he tried to train at White Hart Lane. We were already at the hotel, the Grove, but we came to White Hart Lane to train, and he couldn't make it. So, Juande Ramos made the decision that afternoon who would play left-back. Then on the Sunday morning, the day of the game, eight o'clock in the morning, there’s a  ‘knock, knock’ on my door. It’s Pascal Chimbonda and the physio telling me that Pascal wants to play, that he was alright. I thought he was crazy! We went to Juande's room. I remember Juande in his underpants saying, ‘what?’ and Pascal is running in the corridor of the hotel, saying that he was fit! So, Juande had to make a decision, and he played Pascal, obviously. Incredible. Then, the meetings previous to the game. Then, the changes of Juande in the final. I learned so much that day. When we are 1-0 down, he takes Pascal out, and put Steed Malbranque at left-back. I talked to Steed probably during those 30 seconds, five times, ‘you’re left-back’. And he was saying, ‘me’? ‘Yeah, you left-back’. ‘But me left-back?’ ‘Yeah, you left-back’. He couldn't believe that! Then we equalised, Berba, calmest penalty ever. Then my part, my part of all that game, the one I remember with most, like, emotions, is during half-time in extra time. We are now 2-1 up, and you get together there. Juande had to do two or three things tactically, but when he finished, I went ballistic. I went like, 'boys, 15 minutes, boys, listen to me'. I went crazy. I don't know if the players remember that, but it was my personal time. Afterwards, the celebrations, especially for the fans at that time, it was so important to win a trophy. The players... we had a great night!”

Q4 | You’ve been on all sides of this game – played for both, assistant manager for us – what’s important at Stamford Bridge on Saturday?

Gus: “This game is becoming bigger and bigger. I didn't have that feeling when I was at Chelsea, I have to be honest. Then it got bigger and bigger with the record, and then even bigger in Mauricio Pochettino’s time, with the fights! So, now you need to play it like a derby, and in a derby you need to be super aggressive, you know, stay within the limits - and concentrate at all times. That’s vital. Chelsea can score goals for fun.”

Q5 | How do you think this one plays out?

Gus: “I think Chelsea are showing the power they have in attacking areas. As I said, they score goals for fun, so you need to be very well organised but, also, they're showing vulnerability at the back. So, you need to go thinking that you're going to score. Then, you have a chance. For me, you cannot go and defend in this game. Then, like I said, it’s a derby, everything that goes with that, the occasion – and I think it's going to be a beautiful game because of the quality of the players in both teams.”