Arsenal veteran Dixon set to hang up his boots

Lee Dixon is set to play his last premier league match for English champions Arsenal on Saturday before he goes out on a high at Tony Adams's testimonial match on Monday.

Arsenal meet Everton on Saturday in their last competitive game of the season, when Highbury will play host to celebrations for the side's double-winning success.

The 38-year-old defender Dixon, who joined Arsenal in 1988, has decided to hang up his boots after talks with manager Arsene Wenger.

"I really hadn't made up my mind until Arsene called me in to the office prior to training," Dixon told Saturday's Daily Telegraph.

"It was the first time we had spoken about it. At the start of this season I'd intimated that this would be my last but because I was out for the first five-and-a-half months through injury my original plan was thrown into chaos.

"The fact I haven't missed selection in the squad since Christmas kept me going. However, the longer the season went on, the more I realised I couldn't continue to play at the highest level for much longer.

"It is too much for my knee and ankle, but I needed someone I totally respect to tell me it was time to call it a day.

"It needed someone with Arsene's intelligence and know-how to push me over the edge."

Dixon was one of Arsenal's famed back four, alongside 35-year-old captain Adams, Steve Bould, who left for Sunderland after 11 years in 1999, and 38-year-old Nigel Winterburn who joined West Ham United in 2000 after 13 seasons with the Gunners.

"Arsene was very clear that the defenders he inherited at Arsenal had done well for him, and though it was an emotional decision, I'm relieved my mind has been made up," said Dixon.

STUFF OF DREAMS

"When we won the double in 1998 I felt that I'd done well to be part of a team, but to do it again four years later is the stuff of dreams."

The back line, who also latterly included England's Martin Keown, had been known for their no-nonsense, solid defence for over a decade as Arsenal won, before this year, three league titles, two FA Cups and the Cup Winners' Cup.

Dixon had been a first-team regular until a knee injury at the start of the season kept him out until the new year.

He struggled to regain a starting place as Wenger found able replacements at right back in Ukrainian Oleg Luzhny and Cameroon's Lauren.

Dixon, bought from Stoke City for 400,000 pounds 14 years ago, has made over 600 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, scoring 28 goals and has won 22 England caps.