Tottenham defender denies AVB problem after misleading tweet

Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto has been forced to defend his relationship with Andre Villas-Boas after he posted a message on Twitter which suggested he was unhappy with life under the Portuguese coach at White Hart Lane.

Assou-Ekotto has been out of action since early September with a knee complaint, with summer signing Jan Vertonghen deputising in his place while Kyle Naughton has also been used to fill in at the back.

The Cameroonian defender risked the ire of his manager thanks to an ambiguous tweet which seem to relate to his relationship with Villas-Boas.

The message, which received over 600 retweets, said: “Hello every 0ne!!!!! b strong at work and thînk positif!!!! Even if u hâte ur boss LoL”

Assou-Ekotto was quickly forced into back peddling and posted out a response to questions raised by fans over whether his message related to Villas-Boas.

He posted: “My last text is not about my boss lolol. Is for all my followers!!! :-)

Assou-Ekotto’s message comes at a bad time for Villas-Boas, who has been forced to deny claims that striker Emmanuel Adebayor is unhappy with his lack of game time and wants to move.

Tottenham will look to get their Europa League campaign back on track after three draws on Thursday, with Slovenian outfit Maribor the visitors to White Hart Lane.

Spurs then face a succession of tough fixtures, with trips to Manchester City and Arsenal before ties against Lazio, West Ham and Liverpool.