• African Nations Cup

Adebayor 'will captain Togo' at ANC

Tottenham are preparing for at least four matches without Emmanuel Adebayor © Getty Images

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Tottenham's Emmanuel Adebayor is expected to play at the African Nations Cup according to Togo officials, two days before Wednesday's squad announcement deadline.

The 28-year-old came out of a self-imposed international retirement this summer, but concerns about player safety and an ongoing dispute over bonuses have left the striker's future with the national squad in question.

But Gabriel Ameyi, the president of the Togolese Football Association, is adamant that the national captain will lead the side when the competition begins later this month.

"Of course we will go to the competition with Adebayor," Ameyi is reported to have told Algerian radio. "We will all be together in South Africa. It is very important to have him because he is our player and team captain."

Should Adebayor travel with the Togo squad it seems likely that Spurs would be left with just one recognised striker in Jermain Defoe for four games - three Premier League matches and an FA Cup tie - and may turn to the transfer market to bolster their attacking options.

Adebayor was pictured at Heathrow airport heading for Ghana this morning after Spurs head coach Andre Villas-Boas granted his players three days off following their FA Cup third-round win over Coventry on Saturday.

Reports in Togo suggest that Adebayor is set to formally announce his intention to play as soon as Monday, but the striker is likely to seek assurances about the players' contracts, training camp and welfare before committing himself to the squad.

Togo's president, Faure Gnassingbe, had planned to hold talks with Adebayor to discuss the conditions in which the squad will work ahead of the competition.

Adebayor was on the Togo team bus that was attacked in Angola three years ago, in which the team's assistant coach, their official spokesman and the bus driver were killed.

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