Lukasz Fabianski is hoping to make himself a firm favourite with the Arsenal fans by helping to knock Tottenham Hotspur out of the Carling Cup.

The 22-year-old goalkeeper arrived from Legia Warsaw during the summer and has been quickly given a regular taste of first-team experience by Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, in the competition this season.

With his hopes of earning a place in Poland's squad for the European Championships next summer, Fabianski would like nothing more than to see Tottenham leave the Emirates Stadium tomorrow with little to build on going into the second leg at White Hart Lane in a fortnight.

"It is a big, big game for me, the fans and for everybody who is a Gunner," Fabianski said. "For me, it has been good to play in this competition and we now have two more games. It will be another chance to show my ability and how I am looking. I am ready for that and cannot wait.

"I know that this is a London derby game and I spoke to Manuel Almunia, who saved a penalty against Spurs [in the Premier League]. He told me that if you save a penalty against Tottenham then you are the biggest man in the world.

Fabianski has quickly adjusted to his new lifestyle, already fluent in English and the young Pole is showing continued improvement on the pitch following successive clean sheets in his first two appearances.

"The Newcastle [United] match [in the Carling Cup third round) was my debut and people were looking at me to see if I was good enough to play for Arsenal. I was not nervous because I was confident I was ready for the game.

"I want to play as many games as possible, because I am also hoping to fight for a place in the Polish national side for the European Championships. So for me, every game is the biggest in my life and I want to treat it like that to get in good condition."