After almost quitting Arsenal during the summer, midfielder Mathieu Flamini intends to make the most of his chance this season.
The 23-year-old had become frustrated by a lack of first-team football last season and was ready to further his career away from Emirates Stadium.
Despite being linked with a move to several other Barclays Premier League clubs as well as the likes of Inter Milan, the Frenchman decided to stay at the Gunners following a heart-to-heart with manager Arsene Wenger.
He said: 'It is true I was close to leaving because I did not play enough, so I spoke to the coach and we had a good discussion.
'Now I am here and am very happy to be here.
'The manager told me he had confidence in me and I said, 'All right I am going to stay and I will prove that I can play'.
'Sometimes I have to move, like last time when I play right-back. I like to play midfield because it is my natural position. One game by one game and I will see.'
Arsenal will be expected to chalk up another comprehensive win against the newly-promoted Rams, who may have beaten Newcastle on Monday night to move off the bottom, but have yet to score a goal away from home and have shipped 11.
Derby manager Billy Davies is preparing his side to face a player he believes is potentially the best midfielder in the world - Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.
The Rams are buoyant after earning their first win of the season on Monday night against Newcastle - a result which saw them move off the bottom of the Barclays Premier League - but Davies insists there are even stiffer challenges around the corner.
He takes his side to the Emirates Stadium and Fabregas, in commanding form this season with three league goals and two Champions League strikes to his name already, is the man Davies fears most.
And although he thinks the Spaniard is among the finest players on the planet at present, the Scot concedes that the Gunners have so many possible match-winners they cannot get them all into one team.
He said: 'Fabregas is one of the best, if not the best, midfield player in the world.
'He is a top, top player on great form.
'But they have so many good players. Look at their bench, they have top, top players on the bench. Look at the stand even, they have top quality players sitting in the seats of their stand.'
Regardless of their quality, Davies insists his side must try and repeat the success they enjoyed against Newcastle, where some full-blooded defence and a stunning 30-yard goal from debutant Kenny Miller earned them a deserved win.
'I've said all along that only with time will this team improve and individuals will improve.
'Our first seven games (including Arsenal) were always going to be very difficult matches. We've played sides over the last few weeks who should finish in the top six - the Liverpools, the Newcastles, the Tottenhams.
'But Monday night was much more like it for us.
'You go to do your best and we'll try and get our players playing at their maximum on Saturday. We go down there to compete and to try and carry on from where we left off against another expensive unit in Newcastle.
'We are finding our feet but we know that doesn't guarantee us victories.'
Wenger has plenty of injury concerns.
Captain William Gallas (groin), keeper Jens Lehmann (elbow) and Emmanuel Eboue (ankle) have been joined on the sidelines by midfielder Tomas Rosicky (hamstring).
Defender Philippe Senderos (hip) and winger Alexander Hleb (knee) are also both now doubtful.
Davies though, could select the same XI who secured the club's first win of the season when they visit Arsenal on Saturday.
Scotland striker Miller has suffered no recurrence of the hamstring strain which delayed his first appearance and will lead the line again.
Veteran defender Darren Moore is back in training after a knee injury and is close to becoming available but Davies could opt to stick with a back four who kept a clean sheet last time out.
Teenage midfielder Giles Barnes has also been in full training for a week following a foot injury sustained in the play-off final last season but will not be considered until next weekend at the earliest.
Arsenal 5-0 Derby: Hat-trick hero Adebayor
PA
Arsenal remain top of the Premier League after their five-star performance destroyed dire Derby 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
Empics
Diaby: The young midfielder puts Arsenal ahead.
A hat-trick from Emmanuel Adebayor and goals from Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas swept clueless County aside in emphatic style.
• Wenger: We are the real deal
The Londoners are clearly not missing the departed Thierry Henry as this latest victory preserved their 100% home record and left them undefeated so far this season.
Arsenal should have taken the lead in the fourth minute of the game after a superb run down the left flank from Gael Clichy.
The left-back's low cross found Adebayor unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, but the tall striker failed to direct his effort on target.
However, the Gunners took the lead in the 10th minute when Diaby side-stepped two challenges on the edge of the penalty area before firing an unstoppable rising drive into the top corner of the net.
He almost repeated the feat moments later, but this time his low drive from a similar position was pushed to safety by Stephen Bywater.
Arsenal's free-flowing football was a joy to watch and Derby were finding it difficult to hold the hosts at bay.
Derby offered little in the way of an attacking threat under Arsenal's domination of the game.
In the 23rd minute Arsenal almost opened up the Rams for a second time when Adebayor got on the end of a long ball from Kolo Toure.
But again the tall striker could not get a firm strike on the ball and it was collected easily by Bywater.
The home side looked dangerous with every attack and the Premier League newcomers struggled to cope with the pace of the game.
Adebayor made it two to Arsenal in the 25th minute when he latched onto a pass from Fabregas and ran clear of the Derby defence. The Arsenal striker then rounded Bywater and slotted the ball home.
Derby, hammered 6-0 by Liverpool earlier this month, were seemingly out of their depth yet again.
Adebayor was a constant threat and in the 35th minute he almost turned provider for Eduardo.
This time his cross was just too far for the Arsenal striker to control and the chance went begging.
Moments later Theo Walcott tried his luck from 20 yards, but his accuracy and power did not match that of team-mate Diaby and the ball went wide of the target by some margin.
Fabregas was controlling the midfield and in the 32nd minute he put Walcott through on goal, but the England youngster fired straight at Bywater, who managed to grab the ball at the second attempt.
Derby's attempts to get back into the game were hampered by their own inability to pass the ball to their own players.
Their sloppy play allowed Arsenal to quickly regain possession and cause County further problems.
In the 44th minute Eduardo's header from a corner by Fabregas was brilliantly saved by Bywater.
The half-time whistle gave the visitors some much-needed relief after a first half dominated by Wenger's team.
Derby's plight worsened four minutes after the re-start when County captain Matt Oakley was punished for pulling back Eduardo inside the penalty area by referee Martin Atkinson.
Adebayor stepped up to take the spot-kick and made no mistake for his second goal of the game.
In the 56th minute a surging run by Toure almost brought him a goal. The Arsenal captain started the move with a clever pass to Fabregas and when the midfielder crossed the ball into the middle, it was headed just wide by the advancing Toure.
Derby had their first real effort of the game on the hour when a shot from centre-forward Steve Howard whistled past the post.
Walcott almost created a goal out of nothing when he beat two Derby players during a mazy run into the penalty area, but his final shot was blocked.
In the 68th minute another fine Arsenal move ended with Adebayor heading over the crossbar after Sagna's cross had found him on the edge of the six-yard box.
With 20 minutes remaining Fabregas scored Arsenal's fourth with a crisp right-foot drive from 20 yards - it was just reward for a tremendous midfield performance.
But the rout was not over and Adebayor made sure of his treble in the 80th minute. The tall striker chested down a long ball and kept his composure before sidefooting home from eight yards to cap a glorious afternoon for Wenger's men.
# Wenger: We are the real deal
Wenger said: 'This team means business. We are not there to show off. We want to achieve something together.
'We kept a good concentration on the quality of our game. It was really enjoyable to watch.
'Adebayor looks stronger physically and you see that in many challenges. There is a huge force coming out of him. He had that already but he looks calmer in his finishing.'
Some of Arsenal's football was a sheer joy to watch - the kind of football Chelsea's Roman Abramovich wants his side to play over at Stamford Bridge.
But Wenger was not interested in what Abramovich wants in west London, adding that he was only too happy to stay true to his idea of how the game should be played.
Wenger added: 'We try to play football we love here and that is not linked with the Chelsea situation, it is linked to what we aspire to do. When we don't win we are criticised, when we win people love us. But above all we are faithful to the idea we have of the game.'
Fabregas was sensational in midfield and took his tally to seven for the season with a stunning 20-yard drive for Arsenal's fourth. It was his last kick of the game as Wenger replaced him immediately.
Fabregas is now beginning to earn the same kind of plaudits that made Thierry Henry such a star at the Emirates but Wenger does not believe he will get carried away with his own success.
Wenger explained: 'I wanted to take him off because he had a little calf problem at half-time but he took advantage of that by scoring a goal. He scored a great goal again.
'Cesc is naturally very hard on himself. That struck me even when he was 16. He is very demanding of himself. He has his feet on the ground and I think he will deal well with that situation.
'We have played six games, four times at home, so we are conscious next week at West Ham will be another test. We won in a convincing way at Tottenham, we could have won at Blackburn so let us keep it going.
'There is still room for improvement and the target is to get better and better and hopefully peak in April and May.'
Arsenal can look forward to a season of success but clueless County are set for a long hard slog.
They were simply outclassed by Arsenal as they had been at Tottenham and Liverpool but boss Billy Davies says the learning curve and the experience will help his side as they prepare for a crucial run of games.
Davies declared: 'Ultimately the early goal cost us dearly, it was poor defending even if it was a top-class finish.
'We were playing against Adebayor, without doubt one of the top strikers in the world, and Fabregas - one of the best midfield players.
'They have quality running through the side - they are a top side. They play with a huge amount of confidence.
'The learning curve and experience is crucial. It looked as though we were moving the ball around with a bit more confidence at time. But we still stood off when we should have been in people's faces.
'Sevilla came here - a top European side and lost 3-0 - so there is no embarrassment to come here and get a lesson off them.
'We are now going into a run of games against Bolton, Reading, Wigan and Everton and we've got to look to these and know they are the ones we have to compete and pick up points in.
'We are not despondent at all, we feel we are getting better and we will continue to work very hard.'
