Thursday 5 February 2015 16:42, UK
Mauricio Pochettino says Emmanuel Adebayor remains "a very important player" for Tottenham.
Adebayor has been booed recently by some Spurs supporters and was on the verge of agreeing a loan move before this week's deadline.
The striker says he was told he could leave and chose West Ham from a list of five interested clubs, only for chairman Daniel Levy to pull the plug on the deal.
The upshot is he is still at White Hart Lane and in contention for Saturday's derby against his old club Arsenal, and Pochettino said: "We are happy that he stays here because I think he is a very important player.
"We need to provide him with the tools to improve his game and try to help the team to reach their objective. Like with all players, we try to push them, get them to train in a good way and after, when they have the opportunity to play, try to give their best."
And the Spurs boss said Adebayor's critics should consider he is still getting over a two-month absence, during which time he was given time off to deal with a family matter.
"We need to analyse the past," he said. "The past was difficult for him and always it is difficult to come back again, to recover the confidence and the best level to compete.
"If you review a little bit of the last two or three months, maybe people understand that he needs time to get back his confidence and his best level."
Pochettino also played down speculation linking goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a summer move to the likes of Paris St Germain, Manchester United and Real Madrid, saying: "I think that Hugo is one of the best keepers in the world.
"It is difficult for this type of club to get him because Hugo is happy here. He is happy here and maybe in the future, in his mind, he is playing in the Champions League with Tottenham."
