• Premier League

Adebayor reveals Tottenham 'disrespect'

Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor has accused his employers of treating him with disrespect in recent months, but he has vowed to put the past behind him following his successful return to the Spurs first team.

Departed manager Andre Villas-Boas was reluctant to use Adebayor in the first half of this season, but the Togo striker was handed a route back into Tottenham's plans by caretaker boss Tim Sherwood and responded with a goal against West Ham last week and two more in Sunday's 3-2 Premier League win against Southampton.

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However, the bitterness Adebayor feels after several months of frustration as an outsider at Spurs spilled over as he granted a post-match interview at St Mary's Stadium.

"It was difficult, I don't even know how to explain it," Adebayor told BBC Sport. "I come to the training ground and I see some of the team group pictures [being taken] and I'm not even involved, that showed me a lot of disrespect.

"At the end of the day, I am a professional footballer and I try to keep my head up. They ask me to go and train with the reserves, I do it with pleasure. They asked me to train on my own, I have done with pleasure.

"I just keep doing my thing and now this is my glory time. Don't get me wrong, this is only one game and there are 20 something more to go. I have to keep focused and keep doing my thing and hopefully I can be the one who makes the team.

"This is good for my confidence, winning is good for the whole team, but this is not about Adebayor. This is about Tottenham."

Adebayor went on to offer gratitude to his team-mates, who he claimed were showing him their support during the time when he was being overlooked by manager Villas-Boas.

"All I can say is thanks to the players, thanks for the new staff for giving me my confidence back," Adebayor said. "Even when I was not playing, I had a lot of players backing me up and telling me they know how good I am. To get the chance to play again, I don't want to let them down, I don't want to let the fans down who believe in me."

Meanwhile, Spurs caretaker boss Tim Sherwood insisted he was not surprised by Adebayor's form in his first two games back in the Tottenham team, as he suggested the former Arsenal striker is burning with desire to prove his doubters wrong.

"Adebayor has not been playing, so he did not require much motivating," Sherwood said. "You put him back in because of what he has done in history. He has nothing to prove to me. I have seen him play for many years and we knew he was a top player.

"It was tough for him to train with the reserves, but he was never a moment's problem with me. I'm always honest with players and if they give me respect, I'll give it to them back. That's the relationship between me and Adebayor, and I can't criticise anything he's done."

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