Arsenal's Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor has shrugged off a niggling knee injury and will be fit to face Middlesbrough in the Premier League on Saturday, manager Arsene Wenger said.

Adebayor injured his right knee during Arsenal's League Cup semi-final win over Tottenham on Wednesday but the injury was not as bad as first thought, Wenger told reporters on Friday.

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The Togolese striker got a bang on his knee in the Carling Cup Semi-Final second leg against Tottenham on Wednesday.
“Adebayor has been touched at his knee,” said Wenger in an exclusive interview with Arsenal TV Online on Thursday. “We will see how he reacts later."

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Emmanuel Adebayor believes Arsenal's young Gunners can go all the way and defeat Chelsea in next month's Carling Cup final.

Adebayor, one of the more experienced stars on show against Spurs and a goalscorer on Wednesday night, believes Wenger's alternative line up can get the better of the Premiership champions.

"Of course, there is an even greater satisfaction that we have done it with young players. Now I hope we are going to win it," said Adebayor.

"If you can beat Liverpool at their home ground then Tottenham as well, we have a good chance to win it.

"We are going to give our best.

"The young boys, we have played them in the Premiership and when we have had to win, they have done it.

"It does not matter about their age. We have a lot of quality.

"I do not know what the manager has in his mind. I think he will try to put the young boys in because they have done the job up to now. It would be difficult for them not play the final.

"The boss has confidence in the young players and we have confidence in them as well."

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Nigerian Stephen Keshi is in talks with Togo football authorities to return as the coach of the Hawks.

Keshi, who was sacked as the coach of Togo in January last year, has held talks in Lome with officials of the Togo Football Federation (TFF) over the vacant post.

"Stephen Keshi was officially invited to Lome last Tuesday by the new Togo football federation for consultations," a TFF source told BBC Sport on Thursday.

The turnaround by the TFF comes after the recent change in its leadership, with Tata Avlessi replacing Rock Gnassingbe.

Keshi was sacked by former the Gnassingbe-led TFF board after Togo's first-round exit at the African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The coach also had a row with star player Sheyi Adebayor during the competition which led the TFF to turn against him.

Before his dismissal Keshi, a former Nigeria captain, had achieved the unprecedented feat of earning Togo a ticket to its first ever World Cup in June last year.

Frenchman Patrice Neveu was expected to replace German Otto Pfister as the coach of the Hawks last month but his appointment was blocked by the government.

Neveu was appointed by Gnassingbe but when the son of the former Togolese president was voted out office Avlessi was reluctant to endorse an appointment instigated by the previous regime.
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This is quite a twist in the tale of who is to be the next Togolese coach. I never thought that they would think to get Keshi. Adebayor has stated that he might quit international football in the next 6 months if the TFF dont get their act together. How would Adebayor respond to Keshi being the next manager?

Emmanuel Adebayor has been called up to the Togo squad to face Cameroon in Lome on February 7.

He has been called up along with:
Kossi Agassa (Hercules Alicante D2 Spain)
Dare Nibombe (Mons, D1 ,Belgium)
Eric Akoto(Ak Graz, D1, Austria)
Alaixys Romao ( Louhans-Cuiseaux D3 France)
Atté-Oudeyi Zanzan ( Fc Bruxelles D1 Belgium)
Cherif Mamam Toure (no club)
Moustapha Salifou(Fc wil, D2 Switzerland)
Mohamed Kader ( Guingamp D2 France)
Paul Adado ( Pas Giannena, D2, Greece)
Yao Aziawonou(YB Boys, D1 Switzerland)
Yao Seneya ( M.Piktvah, Isreal)
Emmanuel Matthias (EGS Gafsa D1 Tunisia)
Adekanmi Olufade( Gantoise D1 Belgium)
Robert Malm (Montpellier D1 France)
Eninful Kakla (FC Sheriff, D1, Moldova)
Tchangai Massamasso (Al Ittihad, Saudi Arabia)
Mamah Gafar ( FC Sheriff, D1, Moldova)
Team roster thanks to http://reinhardinho.skyblog.com