Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor has said that 2013 was the most difficult year of his life.

The 29-year-old lost his brother Peter last summer and was made to train with Spurs' reserves under then-manager Andre Villas-Boas.

However, the Togolese has now returned to first-team action following the appointment of Tim Sherwood as Tottenham's new manager and is pleased that his life is back on track.

"I am quite happy and hopefully that'll keep going for me and the team," he told Sky Sports News. "I have been through a lot. I can honestly say that 2013 was the worst time of my life, with my brother passing away.

"It was very difficult, especially losing someone you love. I just went to the funeral and focused on my job and today I have a chance to play and today I'm very happy being back on the football pitch for the last two months or so and I think I'm doing quite well.

"It was the worst part of my life and in my career. I can just feel it, 2014 is going to be better and at the moment everything is looking good."

Adebayor has also said that he holds no grudge against Villas-Boas for freezing him out of the first team in the first half of the season.