Adebayor on Spurs leave

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino had no hesitation in granting Emmanuel Adebayor’s request to return home to deal with a family matter.

As the squad made their way to Turkey for tonight’s Europa League clash with Besiktas (6pm, live on 3e, ITV4), Spurs announced the Togo front man would be absent due to a “private matter”.

Adebayor returned to Africa for what the north London club called “personal reasons”, with reports suggesting a close relative of the striker had fallen ill.

“It is important to fix this type of problem because always family is important,” said Pochettino, whose side are already qualified.

Harry Kane, Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen will be rested but Kyle Walker could make his long-awaited return. “Kyle is back,” Pochettino said. “We need to decide if he is in the starting XI.”

Besiktas are also understrength, with former Chelsea striker Ibrahim Ba missing.