Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits he now gets along better with Manchester United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Gunners travel to Old Trafford on Monday.
On his now seemingly cordial relationship with once bitter rival Ferguson, Wenger observed: "It has changed a little bit by the length of the surviving of both managers in their team and there is a respect and understanding of the difficulty of this job. That's maybe what you call 'mellowing'.
"But what is important is that it's not Ferguson v Wenger, it's Manchester United v Arsenal.
"What is important is how well both teams will play and all the ingredients are there for an exciting game, that's what we want to produce."
Wenger will leave a decision on the fitness of captain Cesc Fabregas, battling to recover from a hamstring problem, until the last moment.
"We will not take an unreasonable gamble, that is for sure, even if it is a big game," the Arsenal boss said.
"We have to assess if it is a risk for him to play, is he ready to play in a very intense game, then I will make a decision.
"But overall I am more focused on the team performance than on any individual performance, you know you only win any big game if the whole team competes well."
