The Spurs will not let up against Manchester City. It's just not in the nature of a footballer | first division

W.We had heard it all week, just constant reminders. You went to the garage to fill up the car, to the store to buy the newspaper, to the supermarket and someone said: “We don't want Manchester United to win the league. “We are Blackburn fans this weekend.” And there were no smiles when they said it either.

It was the climax of the 1994-95 season, I played for Liverpool and we had Blackburn at Anfield on the last day. They were in a title battle with Manchester United, two points ahead of them with a worse goal difference and United were going to West Ham, who were managed by my father.

It's easy to see the parallels with this season, with Tottenham about to receive Manchester City on Tuesday night and their fans were worried that if they got a result could set up Arsenal to win the league on Sunday.

It's a strange position, your club's fans don't want you to win, and I remember seeing some Blackburn shirts in the local areas of Anfield. Did it affect me as a player or any of my Liverpool teammates? Absolutely not because you simply can't. The reason why footballers are footballers is that, from the age of five or six, they want to win. This is how they have been educated and to act otherwise would be to go against everything they are. How can you miss a challenge or a shot on purpose? It's not possible.

In the end, most of our fans couldn't bear to lose either. There was a moment before the Blackburn game when I thought: “Ah, this is going to be cold today.” But after Alan Shearer scored for them in the 20th minute, we soon realized that was not going to be the way. We started giving the ball away, just by accident, and the crowd was on us. There was a bit of a party atmosphere but that ended.

Perhaps part of this was the news leaking that West Ham had won 1-0 against United in about the 30th minute. Then the Liverpool fans said: “Come on, we've paid our money here, give us a show.” But really it's because they are knowledgeable about football, they love the game and they are winners. They didn't want us to throw it away.

United would equalize early in the second half and so would we, John Barnes scoring just after the hour mark. We should have been awarded a penalty with about 15 minutes remaining when David Batty fouled Robbie Fowler and it goes without saying that Steve McManaman was so outraged by the decision that he was booked for dissent.

You can't turn it on and off. There is a reason why Steve won two Champions Leagues with Real Madrid. It's because he is a relentless competitor. I came up against Tim Sherwood in the Blackburn midfield and he was competing with me for a place in England. I don't want to let Tim spin me around. Or David Batty. He is your professional pride.

I got a free kick in the final minutes and I certainly wasn't trying to bend it over the bar. I was trying to score and I did to give us the 2-1 victory. When she came in, I pretended to be a little upset, but inside I was absolutely delighted. That's how you are. I had John Barnes rushing me. Juan wants to win. That's how he's built.

Blackburn was a bit gone, to be fair. They had lost two of their previous four games and were limping over the line, so that is a difference to this City team, who are flying. That said, we had won the League Cup that season and had a lot of good players.

West Ham drew 1-1 with United, so it ended up being the perfect day for us and for my dad to be involved in all of this too; Alex Ferguson never forgot it. That's why he enjoyed it in 2005 when United defeated Southampton on the final day. My dad was the coach and I played.

Ferguson and my dad are good friends, but a couple of United players told me he was very happy to knock down Southampton after what happened in 1995. Don't forget that. People hold grudges in football. That will always be the case.

For Tottenham, if they don't achieve something against City, the fans will be I won't be as disappointed as usual.. But as a player, how can you not try? That's just not how it works and people who say that don't understand what it's like to put on the kit. Especially in the Premier League. In other leagues I wouldn't be so sure, but in our league I don't think it happens like that.

The relationship between Tottenham fans and the players is a bit strained at the moment – ​​not that the team is playing very well – and there are some disgruntled players who are probably thinking: “Okay, I want to be in the shop window. “Ange Postecoglou is under a bit of pressure. It's also not the kind of club where you get a lot of support from the top, so he needs a result. Tottenham don't want to end the season with a whimper, having started it well. It will be a fascinating watch.