Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has admitted that he "genuinely hated" Manchester United rival Peter Schmeichel during their playing days.

The pair clashed on more than one occasion during the early years of the Premier League, with their individual battles going some way to building the animosity between the two clubs for what became the defining rivalry of the first decade of the competition.

Wright highlighted a particular game at Highbury in 1997 when he put in a heavy challenge on Schmeichel, and he has now opened up on the disdain he had for the Danish shot-stopper.

"We get on well, play golf together and laugh about the collisions we had. When we speak about it now, me and Schmeichel, we talk about how much I genuinely hated him as a goalkeeper," Wright told the Match of the Day podcast.

"I knew how good he was and how hard it was to score against him. The only goals I ever scored against him were in friendlies! We'd had a bit of an altercation at Old Trafford which led to this game which was a couple of months later.

"The tackle which everybody sees, the whistle had already gone and I just didn't stop. We're both running for the ball, the red mist was there and I just jumped on the ball with two feet – they said it was the tackle that shamed football. When I look back at it now, it's quite an embarrassing thing to see."

Schmeichel won five Premier League titles at Manchester United, whereas Wright lifted the trophy just once with Arsenal.