Granit Xhaka insists he is aiming to put his disciplinary problems behind him ahead of a fixture in which history suggests that theory is about to be put to the test.

Arsenal travel to Stoke tomorrow for the latest instalment of a rivalry born out of a culture clash which escalated when Aaron Ramsey suffered a double fracture to his right leg in a tackle with Ryan Shawcross more than seven years ago.

Both sides have changed in the intervening years but Stoke fans still bait Arsene Wenger and mock the Gunners’ focus on style and sophistication in response to the view the Potters are profoundly aesthetically challenged.

Ramsey is always booed at the Britannia Stadium. He is likely to line up in central midfield alongside Xhaka for another fiery contest in which Arsenal’s hunger will be tested.

The Gunners had not won at Stoke since that game overshadowed by Ramsey’s injury until May, when running out comfortable 4-1 winners.

It was ultimately insufficient to avoid missing out on a top four finish but Xhaka’s performance contributed to an encouraging end to his first season in England following a £35million move from Borussia Monchengladbach.

The 24-year-old may have been a relatively unknown to the Premier League but referees quickly got to know him: 12 yellow cards and two red cards, both for avoidable wild lunges in games Arsenal were winning.

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However, Xhaka believes those days are behind him. “I know it has been criticised but my style of play is to be aggressive,” he said.

“My two red cards can be discussed, were they necessary or not, but I am hoping to have less cards this season and build on the end of last season where I already had less.”

The switch to 3-4-2-1 has seemingly aided Xhaka’s development and perhaps Wenger has greater clarity over the Switzerland international’s strengths; after originally describing him as a “box-to-box” player in September, he changed that assessment to a “deep playmaker”.

So what is the most accurate description? “It is a good question,” he said. “I am not a player who likes to talk about himself but I think I have shown since I have been here that I am someone who likes having the ball, dictating the play, looking for my team-mates. I'm what we call a 'six' in Germany, a quite aggressive, deep-lying playmaker.”

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Xhaka’s passing range will help extract the best from club-record signing Alexandre Lacazette and he added: “I heard that and it is an honour for a player like Thierry to say that about me and give me that compliment.

“I watched the analysis and saw the comments, of course for me it is my aim to get Laca in the game as well as all the players in front of me, in the next few weeks hopefully it'll get better and I can do that.”