Friedel: Heroic at Highbury (BenRadford/Allsport)

Friedel, whose incredible performance at Highbury on Saturday helped inflict a third successive defeat on Arsenal, recalls how Liam Brady tried to lure him to Scotland when he managed Celtic.

He said: `I almost signed for Celtic when Liam Brady was in charge.

`That was a financial thing - the transfer fee, not personal terms. This was 10 years ago and they were having a hard time financially and it was nothing to do with me.

`I was just a young lad and my wages weren't going to break the club.'

And the Ewood Park keeper could also have joined Celtic's closest rivals, Glasgow Rangers

He said: `I almost joined Rangers when Walter Smith was in charge before I joined Liverpool.

`I had given my word to Liverpool two weeks before Rangers called and I don't like to go back on my word.'

Friedel has given an insight into the spirit at Blackburn that has taken the club to Worthington Cup final success under Graeme Souness.

`We've got a lot of fantastic young players here, mixed in with some experience. We really do have a good mix.

`We're under no illusions though. We can't just walk into football games and expect to win, we have to work very hard to do it. If we match other teams for workrate, our football generally comes out on top as we do have some exciting players.

`Two of our best players weren't even playing [against Arsenal] - Damien Duff and Andy Cole, so we do have some exciting players going forward.'

Meanwhile, USA star Friedel has called for an end to the open season of attacks on David Seaman as the goalkeeping union closed ranks around the England international.

Friedel was in inspired form as Blackburn inflicted Arsenal's third consecutive defeat on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Highbury.

Seaman was not to blame for either goal, although he appears cursed by bad luck recently as even team-mate Edu scored a fluke strike against him after just six minutes.

The England goalkeeper has nevertheless taken a huge amount of flak after being lobbed on his line by Ronaldinho, Gareth Farrelly and FYR Macedonia's Artim Sakiri in the past four months.

Friedel, who starred for the United States at the World Cup, insisted: 'Everyone has gone on a little too long about David Seaman. Speaking as another goalkeeper, he's been one of the best servants in English football.

'If he has made a few mistakes, there's no one better to come back from it than someone with loads of experience like him.'

Blackburn's Scottish manager, Graeme Souness, added: 'David Seaman has been unfairly treated. He is a legend and has been a legend for 10 years and people in life, maybe not just in football, forget what he's achieved.