Adebayor has Spurs role

London - Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says Emmanuel Adebayor still has an important role to play after the Premier League club blocked the striker's deadline-day move to West Ham United.

Adebayor has played only once in the Premier League since the beginning of November, in a 2-1 win over Sunderland on January 17, and looked set to leave White Hart Lane as the January transfer window came to a close on Monday.

A proposed move to West Ham, however, collapsed when Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused to loan the 30-year-old to their London rivals, who are two places and four points below them in eighth in the table.

Despite the Togo striker's eagerness to leave in search of first team football, Pochettino says he is happy to have Adebayor in his squad ahead of Arsenal's visit for the north London derby on Saturday.

"We're happy for him to stay here," the Tottenham manager told a news conference on Thursday.

"He is a very important player and we need to provide him with the tools to improve his game. Like all players, he needs to train in a good way and I have confidence in him."