Arsenal's marathon man who played 70 games in just one season as they chased two trophies

EVEN for super-fit Brian Talbot, rolling away the stone proved too much in the season when Arsenal played 70 games.

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On the retreat from the Gunners' FA Cup final defeat against West Ham, he collapsed on the team coach through exhaustion and missed the post-match reception because he was hooked up to a heart monitor.

Running on empty at Wembley, and trailing to Trevor Brooking's header, Arsenal coach Don Howe's half-time pep-talk had been onpoint: "Get in the showers and for God's sake wake up."

But on a hot day, Howe's cold shock therapy was in vain. Arsenal lost 1-0 and, four days later, cruelty breached new frontiers after a barren European Cup Winners' Cup final ended in shoot-out heartbreak against Valencia in Brussels.

It would be another seven years before they reached another final and won a trophy, ending Liverpool striker Ian Rush's record of never being on the losing side when he scored in the 1987 League Cup final.

And if Arsenal are going to finish the current season with silverware to show for their tenacity, they will have to go to the wire again. Talbot, now 70 and Fulham's chief scout, recalls the season where he played all 70 games as his best - despite the Gunners finishing empty-handed and his close encounter with an electrocardiogram.