Ex-Hearts star Berra has more in his Arsenal

Apart from Chelsea, no team – including the mighty Barcelona – had left the Emirates Stadium with a clean sheet. But, as Saturday's Premier League match between Arsenal and Wolves ticked into stoppage time, Berra and Co sensed they were within touching distance of earning the unlikeliest of draws and, in doing so, ending Arsenal's title bid once and for all. It would have ranked as the former Hearts captain's greatest accomplishment in the game.

"When the guy put his board up and it said there would be five minutes of added time I was thinking 'aw naw.' But then a couple of minutes into it I was thinking 'actually we're going to hold on here,'" said Berra, whose parents were watching proudly from the stand as their boy helped Wolves repel attack after Arsenal attack.

But in the cruellest of twists, Berra's world temporarily caved in. With just 65 seconds of the five additional minutes remaining, Bacary Sagna slung over the umpteenth cross of the afternoon, only this time Nicklas Bendtner got the right side of his marker and headed powerfully past Marcus Hahneman.

The Emirates exploded with delight and seasoned Premier League title winners like Sol Campbell and Arsene Wenger went ballistic.

Meanwhile, Berra and his colleagues crumpled in despair. "I really felt like greetin'," admitted the Scotland defender. "I can't remember the last time I felt like that after losing a goal.

"Don't get me wrong, we were lucky to get to half-time at 0-0 because they had so many chances. We had a decent start to the second half but then we had Karl Henry sent off. Anyone who saw it on TV will know it was never a straight red card. We stuck at it and the ten boys on the pitch did really well to contain them.

"But then in the last attack we just kind of fell apart. We didn't expect to get anything from the game – I don't think anyone gave us a hope in hell of getting a result. But to have got so close to a point and then lose with just seconds to go, I really did feel like crying.

"If they had scored after 20 minutes and won the game I'd have been able to handle it, but to concede so late, the boys were absolutely devastated.

"It would have been one of the best results of my career if we had got away from the Emirates with a 0-0, especially just a few days after they had drawn with Barcelona. Everyone was so flat afterwards but the gaffer tried to pick us up. The fans were great at the end, they were still singing and appreciated how well we had done, which meant a lot."

While Berra was unable to add to his list of high-profile shut-out conquests, the big centre-back could at least take heart from the fact he and his colleagues went toe-to-toe with one of the most dynamic sides in the world and almost kept them at bay.

"When we look back on it, it shows how far we've come as a team that we can go there and hold a team like Arsenal for so long with ten men," he continued.

"I know they had a few guys missing but they still had full internationalists like Walcott, Rosicky and Eduardo playing.

"I was mainly looking after Eduardo because he was playing up as a lone striker but I had to cover our full-back a lot as well because they were doubling up with the likes of Sagna and Eboue bombing up the right at every opportunity. Arsenal are always inter-changing and they make it hard for you to pick them up."

So, the adventure continues for Berra.

He's now five games away from completing his first season in the greatest league in the world and the signs are that he's only going to get better as time progresses.

Back in the early days of the season, Wolves were shipping goals regularly and looked like they could find themselves in trouble. But they've since found their feet and appear a safe bet to remain in the top flight next season.

Since the 25-year-old last spoke to the Evening News in January, his side have pulled five points clear of the drop zone on the back of an impressive run of results. He reels off recent matches in which he has played a significant part. There was the 0-0 draw with Liverpool, a second 1-0 win of the season against Tottenham and the 0-0 draw with Everton.

Then there's the draw at Aston Villa and wins at Burnley and West Ham. He also takes heart from the fact Manchester United were held until the 72nd minute at Molineux last month.

But there's no chance of the Scotland internationalist getting carried away.

As one of only three Edinburgh boys playing regularly in the Premier League – Craig Gordon (Sunderland) and Darren Fletcher (Manchester United) are the others – Berra admits he's still in awe at the depth of quality strikers he's being pitted against. He said: "I've helped shut out the likes of Defoe and Crouch twice and just a week past Saturday I managed to keep Louis Saha quiet – he was a real handful, though. Everton were the form team in the league – they had only lost twice in 17 games or something like that.

"They had guys like Steven Pienaar and Tim Cahill running from midfield and making life difficult. After about 75 minutes, it was still 0-0 and had been a really hard game and then they're taking Saha off so I'm thinking 'thank God.' But then Yakubu comes on, and he's built like a bull.

"You're just thinking 'oh my God, what next?'.

"When teams can bring 10 million strikers off the bench you've just got to be on your toes all the time and expect the unexpected."

It's all a far cry from having to shackle the likes of Billy Mehmet and Kevin Kyle in the SPL a little over 15 months ago.

However, regular chats with his dad Christian – who ventures south for most of his son's matches – ensure Berra is in no danger of getting too far ahead of himself. "I was having a discussion with my dad the other day about how I've coped in the Premier League," he said. "I know there's things I need to learn and improve on. I'm my own biggest critic.

"For example, against Everton a couple of weeks ago we kept a clean sheet and I played well, but afterwards I was beating myself up because I made a few bad passes. I suppose I need to start realising that no player goes through an entire game without making mistakes.

"The one thing I would say, as I was saying to my dad, is I don't think any player has taken the mickey out of me or beaten me easily. I can't think of anyone who has given me the run-around. I've just got to make sure I continue holding my own in the Premier League."

Wolves have a favourable run-in and should have enough in their armoury to stay up. They better, because, after Saturday's events in north London, Berra's already endured enough dejection for one season.