Spurs have the form to upset City, says Townsend
England winger confident an Emmanuel Adebayor-inspired Spurs can beat Man City
Spurs will be looking to avenge the 6-0 defeat by Man City earlier in the season
Andros Townsend believes that Tottenham Hotspur can help derail Manchester City’s Barclays Premier League title charge when the two sides meet on Wednesday night. "We're no pushovers," he told premierleague.com. "We're the form team."
The north Londoners suffered a 6-0 defeat by Manuel Pellegrini's team at Etihad Stadium in November but Townsend believes that although City are unbeaten in 11 Barclays Premier League matches, winning 10 times in that sequence, a Spurs side re-invigorated by Tim Sherwood, their new head coach, have nothing to fear.
"We were at the wrong end of a result against City but we're a good side at home," said the 22-year-old. "We're no pushovers. At the moment we've won five out of six, so we're the form team going into the match. Our confidence is high and we're hoping to get a good result."
Townsend is unsure whether he will be fit for the match after suffering "a little setback" to a hamstring injury in a recent Barclays Under-21 Premier League fixture. The England forward is cautious about rushing back after experiencing the first significant injury of his professional career.
In the meantime, Townsend has enjoyed watching Emmanuel Adebayor’s displays since being brought back from the fringes of the squad by Sherwood. The Togolese forward has repaid the faith of his head coach with five goals from six Barclays Premier League outings, and City will be all too aware of the threat posed by their former front man.
'We must keep Adebayor focused'
"Ade is fantastic," said Townsend, who was speaking at the opening of a new 3G pitch that was built with funds from the Football Foundation at London's Capital City Academy. "He's showing everyone the calibre of player he is and what he can do, and we've just got to keep him focused and scoring goals. We need to keep putting balls in the box and he'll get a lot more goals for this club.
"Ade is a great player to play alongside for someone like me. Not only if I'm driving inside will he hold the man up and I can play it into him but if I go down the byline, you know he's going to be in the box, so it's fantastic for myself, Aaron Lennon, EriK Lamela and Nacer Chadli to have him in the penalty area."
Sherwood's appointment has not only been a shot in the arm for Adebayor, but also the youngsters coming up through the ranks, many of whom, like Townsend, served under the former technical co-ordinator when he was in charge of the youth academy.
"It's fantastic for me and it gives hope for everyone else who is in the development squad or who is out on loan hope that they will get a fair crack at the first team," Townsend said. "Everyone who has worked with Tim over the last three or four years, he knows their game, so people will get a chance. So it's great not only for Spurs youngsters but for English football, too.
"In his first game he brought on Nabil Bentaleb, who nobody had heard of, and he's been playing ever since. He's been one of our better players, so hopefully Tim will bring a lot more youngsters through and they will do well."
Should Spurs manage to avenge their November defeat against the 2012 Barclays Premier League champions they can maintain the pressure on the top four and reduce to six points the advantage established by Arsenal, the leaders. But Townsend is trying not to look that far up the table yet.
"We're only in January so we're not really looking at where we can finish yet," said Townsend. "We're just focusing game by game and trying to win football matches and when April and May comes around we'll see where we are and where realistically we can finish and then we'll set a target and an expectation."
Townsend spoke to premierleague.com at the inauguration of a 3G pitch at London's Capital City Academy for which the Football Foundation donated £366,368. Funded by the Premier League, The FA and government, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK. For more on the 3G pitch, click here
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/n...-townsend.html
England winger confident an Emmanuel Adebayor-inspired Spurs can beat Man City
Spurs will be looking to avenge the 6-0 defeat by Man City earlier in the season
Andros Townsend believes that Tottenham Hotspur can help derail Manchester City’s Barclays Premier League title charge when the two sides meet on Wednesday night. "We're no pushovers," he told premierleague.com. "We're the form team."
"At the moment we've won five out of six, so we're the form team going into the match"
- Andros Townsend
- Andros Townsend
"We were at the wrong end of a result against City but we're a good side at home," said the 22-year-old. "We're no pushovers. At the moment we've won five out of six, so we're the form team going into the match. Our confidence is high and we're hoping to get a good result."
Townsend is unsure whether he will be fit for the match after suffering "a little setback" to a hamstring injury in a recent Barclays Under-21 Premier League fixture. The England forward is cautious about rushing back after experiencing the first significant injury of his professional career.
In the meantime, Townsend has enjoyed watching Emmanuel Adebayor’s displays since being brought back from the fringes of the squad by Sherwood. The Togolese forward has repaid the faith of his head coach with five goals from six Barclays Premier League outings, and City will be all too aware of the threat posed by their former front man.
'We must keep Adebayor focused'
"Ade is fantastic," said Townsend, who was speaking at the opening of a new 3G pitch that was built with funds from the Football Foundation at London's Capital City Academy. "He's showing everyone the calibre of player he is and what he can do, and we've just got to keep him focused and scoring goals. We need to keep putting balls in the box and he'll get a lot more goals for this club.
"Ade is fantastic – we've just got to keep him focused and scoring"
- Andros Townsend
- Andros Townsend
"Ade is a great player to play alongside for someone like me. Not only if I'm driving inside will he hold the man up and I can play it into him but if I go down the byline, you know he's going to be in the box, so it's fantastic for myself, Aaron Lennon, EriK Lamela and Nacer Chadli to have him in the penalty area."
Sherwood's appointment has not only been a shot in the arm for Adebayor, but also the youngsters coming up through the ranks, many of whom, like Townsend, served under the former technical co-ordinator when he was in charge of the youth academy.
"It's fantastic for me and it gives hope for everyone else who is in the development squad or who is out on loan hope that they will get a fair crack at the first team," Townsend said. "Everyone who has worked with Tim over the last three or four years, he knows their game, so people will get a chance. So it's great not only for Spurs youngsters but for English football, too.
"In his first game he brought on Nabil Bentaleb, who nobody had heard of, and he's been playing ever since. He's been one of our better players, so hopefully Tim will bring a lot more youngsters through and they will do well."
Should Spurs manage to avenge their November defeat against the 2012 Barclays Premier League champions they can maintain the pressure on the top four and reduce to six points the advantage established by Arsenal, the leaders. But Townsend is trying not to look that far up the table yet.
"We're only in January so we're not really looking at where we can finish yet," said Townsend. "We're just focusing game by game and trying to win football matches and when April and May comes around we'll see where we are and where realistically we can finish and then we'll set a target and an expectation."
Townsend spoke to premierleague.com at the inauguration of a 3G pitch at London's Capital City Academy for which the Football Foundation donated £366,368. Funded by the Premier League, The FA and government, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK. For more on the 3G pitch, click here
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/n...-townsend.html
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