Adebayor set to face Arsenal

Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood has revealed Emmanuel Adebayor is ready to lead the line against former club Arsenal on Saturday.

Adebayor, who scored 62 goals for Arsenal in three and a half seasons with the club, has displayed fine form since Sherwood took over from the sacked Andre Villas-Boas at White Hart Lane, registering four goals in five games.

However, the Togo striker was forced off through injury after scoring the opener in Tottenham’s 2-1 New Year’s Day win at Manhchester United.

Speaking ahead of his side’s third-round tie at the Emirates Stadium, Sherwood confirmed Adebayor had overcome the minor setback.

“I spoke to Ade after United and he said he cramped up in all areas, but thankfully it has settled down and he’s ready to perform,” said the 44-year-old.

Despite ruling Erik Lamela (thigh), Kyle Naughton (ankle and hamstring), Paulinho, Jan Vertonghen (both ankle) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (calf) out of this weekend’s game, Sherwood is eagerly anticipating the meeting with Arsenal.

Tottenham have been boosted by Jermain Defoe, Andros Townsend and Lewis Holtby returning to training, while Sandro and Younes Kaboul are set to do likewise next week.

Asked about the prospect of facing Arsenal, Sherwood replied: “It’s the biggest game for any Tottenham person, and the manager particularly.

“We would love to play a lower league team, but it’s Arsenal at the Emirates and we can’t wait.

“It’s a huge competition. I played (in) a few semi-finals but never won it. It would be fantastic to take Tottenham to the final.

“It would be the pinnacle of my short managerial career if we went to the Emirates and won and we were still in the hat.

“We’ll try to get our offensive players on the ball as much as we can and we feel we can cause them some problems.”

Sherwood refused to be drawn on reports linking Tottenham with a move for Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott.

“I’m not looking for any players at moment, I’m just looking to clear that treatment room and assess it once we’ve got players back,” he explained.

“He (Lescott) is a good player isn’t he? There are a lot of good players at a lot of different clubs and at the moment he’s at Manchester City so I can’t comment on that.”