Despite seeking to keep a selection of football's all-time greats at bay during a decorated career as Arsenal goalkeeper, Bob Wilson has no doubts over the most troublesome opponent he faced.

Jimmy Greaves remains English football's most prolific top-flight goalscorer, thanks to 357 First Division strikes in 516 First Division games.

Tottenham's all-time record scorer with 266 goals in 379 appearances, the 80-year-old Greaves returned home from hospital on Wednesday after being taken ill last week.

His heroics in north London frequently put Wilson in his crosshairs and the former Scotland international told Stats Perform he retains haunted memories of a master craftsman.

"My memories of Jimmy are mainly nightmares," he chuckled. "Whenever I'm asked who I feared facing most in my career, it was Greavesy. That was even ahead of George Best or Johan Cruyff.

"Whenever I'm asked what made him so different and special it was his uncanny, radar-like understanding of the opponent's goal.

"This isn't a small place you're guarding as a goalie, it's a massive chasm – 192 square feet, eight foot high, eight yards wide.

"Whatever gap or whatever angle you think you actually fill, however much of the goal you cover, there is always inevitably a part of that 192 square feet that you simply can't cover if the opposing striker has the skill and ability to find it.

"Jimmy Greaves was that ultimate, laser-like man. One look to assess, one touch to strike hard or bend the ball to that undefendable part of the goal.

"I may be exaggerating a little but, over our meetings, Jimmy seemed to score in what I would think was the impossible angle.

"After he'd done it, he would often give me a little grin. Fortunately he could never hear the expletives that I was uttering at the time.

"He was sensational, uncanny. The best of the best."

Greaves took his prolific exploits to the international stage with 44 goals in 57 England appearances.

However, his part in his country's World Cup winning exploits in 1966 were tinged with personal regret as a mid-tournament injury cleared the way for Geoff Hurst to become a national hero with a hat-trick in the 4-2 extra-time victory over West Germany in the final.

"I'm often asked, if England would still have won the 1966 World Cup if Jimmy Greaves had played and not been injured," Wilson said.

"My honest opinion is they would not only have won it still but a damn sight easier than they eventually triumphed, with Sir Geoff's hat-trick in the final."

Wilson and Greaves became television rivals after calling time on their playing days – the former a peerless host of BBC Grandstand, while Greaves carved out an inimitable niche for himself alongside Ian St John on ITV.

Nevertheless, it is Greaves the masterful footballer, with technique and prowess to transcend generations, that dazzles the brightest in Wilson's mind's eye.

"It was one of those rarest things," he explained. "Jimmy had an ability where he was running with the ball, he had hardly any backlift and the ball was on its way into the net.

"You're almost trying to get set and… bang, it's on its way.

"I hated playing against him. You can say that you have a love-hate relationship with someone and it's not real hate, of course. It's absolute respect for that individual. In my view, that is the ultimate wish for all of us who have been professional footballers."

Wilson added: "Some footballers like me have to work their backsides off to eventually get there. To Jimmy, I think he was one of those God-given talents, whether you look through the Peles and the Maradonas and the greatest players that there've been in the history of the game.

"I promise you, it must be a 500 to 1,000 times, whenever I've done Q&As and speeches – who was the most difficult, who was the one you dreaded facing most? Greavesy."

***Bob Wilson was speaking on behalf of the Willow Foundation. For a full list of events and further information, visit www.willowfoundation.org.uk***