Chelsea's Ashley Cole is bracing himself for a hostile reception from Arsenal fans when he faces his former club at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Cole made an acrimonious switch to Chelsea in the summer after a saga that included a "tapping up" row and a savage attack on Arsenal in his book.

England defender Cole said: "I have to be honest with myself. I think I am going to get booed badly.

"I am very well aware that some fans are very angry."

Arsenal eventually received Chelsea defender William Gallas plus £5m in a transfer deadline day deal.

But supporters were further angered by the subsequent publication of Cole's autobiography, "My Defence", in which he declared he had been "betrayed" by the Gunners' offer of a £55,000 per-week contract.

Cole's former Arsenal team-mate, goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, turned up the heat ahead of the game when he insisted the defender should be criticised for his defection to Chelsea.

He said: "Of course Ashley should expect criticism from supporters on Sunday. He should get criticism. That is football. It makes the game exciting.

"If he didn't, it would have meant that he wasn't an important player, but he was. He was a vital member of our squad and we enjoyed some major successes with him."

Cole, meanwhile, still insists he did nothing wrong in making his move from his boyhood club.

He said: "Some people are going to agree with what I have done and some are not. But I didn't move for money. It was a point of principle. I didn't feel I was wanted.

"In any other job, if someone works for one company then goes to work for another it's not a problem.

"But if you do it as a footballer you are greedy and leaving for the money. I'm not going to say it's unfair because footballers have a great life. But it's not easy.

"I think I am going to get stick when I go back there. Yet if i stayed at Arsenal I was still likely to get abuse.

"All through last season I had to deal with it and it's made me stronger and hopefully it can keep making me stronger."

Chelsea fans were also angry at the manner of Gallas' departure, but he is likely to be spared a Stamford Bridge ordeal because he is a major doubt with a thigh injury.