My flat’s so near railway I had to bandage my head to sleep

CAPITAL GAINS ... Louis Saha has quickly settled into London life

LOUIS SAHA knew he was ready to rumble on his first day as a Tottenham player.

The striker was looking forward to a decent lie-in at his Docklands apartment — but was woken up by a train rattling past a few feet from his window.

Saha, who joined Spurs from Everton on deadline day, faces another of his former clubs, Manchester United, at White Hart Lane today.

But the Frenchman admits he wondered if he was on the other side of the Atlantic, rather than in London.

With a huge grin on his face, Saha watched a DLR train clatter past the hotel where I met him and pointed an accusing finger.

He said: "That's it! That's the train that got me out of bed!

"I couldn't believe it. It went past my window and made so much noise the whole place shook, I shook.

"For a few moments I thought I was in New York, not London.

"On top of that, I had no blinds or curtains so the sun was streaming in through the window.

"It was so bright. I tried to get back to sleep by wrapping bandages around my head and over my eyes to try to make the room darker.

"I hate to think what people might have thought if they had seen me."

Despite all that, the apartment grew on him and Saha is still there.

Perhaps, however, it is no surprise he stuck around.

Despite long battles with a persistent knee problem the 33-year-old who joined Fulham in 2000 is the longest serving foreign outfield player in the Premier League.

And only his new Tottenham team-mate, American keeper Brad Friedel, and Fulham's Aussie Mark Schwarzer beat him in any position.

He added: "Surprised I have been here so long? Not at all. I came here for the long haul.

"I did think briefly about applying to become a UK citizen. I decided against it but when my playing career is finished maybe I can see myself staying in London.

"I like the country, I like the people and the culture and the way of life. I have three children and they are educated here.

"In fact, they all have Manchester accents, they probably speak better English than me!

"I'm so proud of them... but they were all born in France so they will NOT be playing for England!"

Three years at Fulham brought Saha 53 goals in 100 appearances, leading to a £12.8million move to United.

He landed the label 'injury-prone' at Old Trafford after problems with his knee left him needing pain-killing injections just to play.

But he did not do too badly for an injury-prone star, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League and the League Cup.

He said: "I had a bad injury at the wrong time. But that was never an excuse for me. You have to accept some criticism. Sometimes you will be on top of the world and at other times you will be a s**t player.

"I felt I was being judged by my injury and not by my performances."

Injuries did restrict Saha at Old Trafford but his goals record was still an impressive 42 from just 76 games.

And he kicked off his Tottenham career in stunning style with two goals in the first 19 minutes of his first start in the 5-0 win over Newcastle, and another in last weekend's North London derby at Arsenal.

He added: "Of course, I would have liked more goals and more games for United but I have no regrets.

"Whether or not I should have achieved more, doesn't really bother me now."

United's success has been driven by the desire of manager Alex Ferguson to squeeze the best out of his squad.

Saha said: "When Sir Alex sends a team out he gives players so much confidence you think you cannot be beaten. There is no extra pressure from him, in many ways he is very easy going.

"But the United team that comes out at Spurs will think they are unbeatable. In some ways Harry Redknapp and Sir Alex are very similar in that they give players terrific confidence in their own ability.

"The way they plan for games is also similar in some ways.

"But it is always about winning trophies and right now that is the difference. When you look at the 25 years of Alex Ferguson, he has been doing really well.

"Being at Manchester United was good for me but would I like to score against them on Sunday and get three points for Tottenham? Of course!"