‘I’m emotional’: Arsenal superfan on club’s sparkling season ahead of London Marathon challenge for son

"I'm quite emotional about it all," says Arsenal superfan Daniel Roberts as he thinks about the potential of the Gunners winning the Premier League this season.

Daniel has been an Arsenal fan all his life and just like any other Gooner has been transfixed by the side's form this season, that is when he's not pounding the pavement in preparation for the London Marathon.

With just over a week to go until the event, which the 48-year-old is running for his little boy Malachi, Daniel admits it's been a battle to be ready for the start line.

He said: "Training has been a bit of a labour of love as I've had quite a few injuries, which is probably to be expected.

"My longest run of 17.5 miles is done and I've done my tapering down. It's only a week and a half away now so I'm ready to go really.

"I don't feel too nervous now but when I go down there I'm sure I'll be nervous. I'm watching the Arsenal on the Friday evening to make a weekend of it.

"Since I signed up for this it's been the London Marathon and Arsenal at the front of my mind. I've been going to Arsenal for a very long time and the business of running for the charity for my son has been dovetailing my attention."

Five-year-old Malachi has autism and Daniel is running to raise funds for the National Autistic Society.

Malachi is still a little too young to have taken up the love for Arsenal from his dad but has a love for music that may one day blossom into chants cheering on the Gunners.

Daniel said: "Malachi is nearly six but his motor skills aren't great. He's unable to use his hands to pick up his spoon and eat food and we need to help him with that.

"His verbal skills are very limited so he doesn't really talk and is limited in what he can do.

"He's a very happy boy and loves to sing along to nursery rhymes. He's lovely, such a beautiful boy.

"His mum is from Uganda so he's got a lovely mixture of cultures within him and he likes going to school, and loves his brother and sister. The music really seems to be his thing, we've been playing him some classical music which he enjoys."

The Arsenal fan has already raised nearly £5,000 ahead of the London Marathon which will also be a landmark moment for him after a serious injury 17 years ago.

Daniel broke his ankle, tibia and fibula when playing football in 2006 and still has pins in after the incident which makes next weekend's marathon all the more impressive.

He said: "To get to nearly £5,000 is quite overwhelming really. I didn't really appreciate the number of donations I would get.

"The smaller ones mean just as much as the big ones. I've shared the fundraiser online and I've had sponsorship come back from people I've never heard of.

"I'm quite interested in the NFL as well so have a few contacts in America and even some of those guys have sponsored me after seeing me Tweeting about my favourite NFL team."

Speaking about the Gunners, Daniel remembers his first Arsenal match in 1982 and has been going as a season ticket holder ever since 1993 - during the 1997/98 season he even managed to check off all 38 Premier League fixtures.

Asked about whether he thinks Mikel Arteta and co. can see off the Manchester City charge and bring home the title, Daniel said: "I feel quite emotional about it all. I think what Arteta has done in the short time he has been there is phenomenal.

"There was a lot of staleness after the last few years of Arsene Wenger, as much as I loved him, and I don't think Unai Emery did a lot to move it forward.

"Are they going to win it? I change my mind every half an hour. I think they will."

You can sponsor Daniel's London Marathon fundraising efforts on his GoFundMe page.