‘Spurs can make City crack’

Controversial striker Emmanuel Adebayor has raised the temperature ahead of this weekend’s clash with Manchester City by claiming Roberto Mancini’s multi-million pound stars will start fighting with each other on the pitch if Tottenham get under their skin at White Hart Lane.

City have a chance to put a huge dent in Tottenham’s Champions League ambitions on Sunday when they travel to White Hart Lane.

There they will come up against former City striker Adebayor, who had a tumultuous three-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, rowing with Mancini and fighting with defender Kolo Toure before leaving for Spurs two years ago.

A January training ground row involving Mancini and Mario Balotelli and an on-field spat between Carlos Tevez and his manager last season suggest emotions in the City camp are still high, and Adebayor intends to exploit that on Sunday. The former Arsenal striker, who has two goals in his last three matches, admits City’s recent win over Manchester United shows they are in good form but he thinks a supposed lack of discipline, and a weak away record, mean Tottenham have a good chance of pulling off a shock win they desperately need.

“We saw them having a tough time at Everton so it’s true that they are not strong away,” the Spurs striker said.

“They beat Manchester United so their confidence is very high, but we have a great squad and great players.

“If we put them under pressure we have a chance to win for sure because I was there and whenever things are not going their way there will definitely be a fight or an argument on the pitch and that is how we can take them down.”

Andre Villas-Boas may drop Adebayor given that Jermain Defoe is expected to return from injury, although Gareth Bale’s potential absence means the Portuguese could use both strikers.

Villas-Boas knows there is potential for Adebayor’s temper to boil over because of the sour ending to his spell in Manchester.

Adebayor clashed with Mancini and was shipped out on loan twice, while he was also made to train with the youth team.

The striker has a history of blowing his top against his former clubs. He was sent off against Arsenal last year and in his first game for City against the Gunners he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the visiting fans in a game which also saw the Togolese rake his studs across Robin van Persie’s face.

Adebayor insists he bears no ill-feeling towards either Mancini or City, however.

He continued: “I don’t have anything to prove to Man City. Man City is a sacred club. I have a huge respect for the players because I got players there that I can call family — people like Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure and Vincent Kompany.

“They are very good friends for me. It’s going to be important for me to prove how good I am, but I don’t have any pressure that says I have to beat Man City because of the way they treated me — because they bought me expensively and sold me for cheap.

“We are all human beings. For me today I move on, [Mancini] has moved on. He is Man City, I am Tottenham.

“I wish him the best of luck. For me now Mancini is just a manager I respect just like Arsene Wenger, like Harry Redknapp, and that’s it.”

Tottenham looked at one point to have a chance of challenging City for second place, but a run of one win in their last seven in all competitions means they are now fifth in the Premier League.

With a tough game at Chelsea to also come, Adebayor admits Sunday’s game could prove crucial in determining whether Spurs will be playing Europa League or Champions League football next term.

“I think that will be the decisive game for us,” said Adebayor, who missed a penalty for Tottenham in their Europa League exit in Basle eight days ago.

“If we win that game, the confidence will be back. Then we will have a chance to finish in the top four.”

City assistant boss David Platt accepts the Blues are facing battles of mental strength this weekend.

Platt, the first-team coach at Eastlands, said: “I think we are probably feeling the effects of the two big games we have had, mentally more than anything, what it takes out of you.

“We saw on the pitch we couldn’t get anything going [in the 1-0 win against Wigan on Wednesday]. There was a lack of energy about us.

“The physical side is one thing but we can recuperate by fuelling the boys right, getting the right food into them, giving them the right rest and the right cures.

“It is not the physical side that is the problem, but the mental side. That game will have brought us back to earth.”