Tottenham confirm north London derby to be played at Wembley

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League north London derby against Arsenal will be played at Wembley Stadium as the club still awaits safety certificates on its new ground.

In January the club said all its February home fixtures would be staged at their adopted Wembley home owing to continued delays to their new 62,000-seater ground which is costing close to one billion pounds ($1.3 billion).

That left open the possibility of christening the new stadium with a home clash against Arsenal, but that was ruled out by club chairman Daniel Levy on Thursday.

"Once again, thank you all for bearing with us and for the great support we have received from so many different quarters. These next few weeks are pivotal," Levy said in a message to fans on the club's website.

The delays have chiefly been caused by remedial work being carried out on wiring and safety systems.

"The success of this testing is critical to our ability to obtain a safety certificate and open the stadium," the club said in a statement.

Tottenham, third in the Premier League, have used Wembley for league games since the beginning of last season after the historic White Hart Lane ground was demolished at the end of the 2016-17 campaign.