Emmanuel Adebayor has returned to England to resume training with Tottenham Hotspur after being granted indefinite compassionate leave by the club.

Adebayor, the Togo striker, asked for time off and missed the Europa League game against Besiktas and the Premier League victory over Swansea City, telling Spurs that a family member was seriously ill. He flew to Ghana, where he has a home, but is now to resume his Tottenham career.

Having missed training last week and not played for Spurs since the home defeat by Stoke City at the start of November, Adebayor is some way short of match fitness. It remains to be seen whether Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino will immediately restore Adebayor to his squad for the Capital One Cup quarter-final against Newcastle United at White Hart Lane on Wednesday night or give him the full week to work on his condition.

Adebayor has scored only two goals this season, one of which was against Newcastle in the Premier League.

Despite the fact that Tottenham played in Swansea on Sunday afternoon, Pochettino did not give his players Monday off to rest. The first team trained on Monday afternoon, instead of the morning, to prepare for the Newcastle match.

Christian Eriksen, who scored Tottenham’s late winner against Swansea, believes the tough regime implemented by Pochettino is beginning to pay off.

Three of Spurs’ past four Premier League victories have come thanks to goals in the last two minutes.

“Maybe the work we did in pre-season is starting to bear fruit,” said Eriksen. “You’ve seen in recent games that we’re able to go 100 per cent at the end of the game. Earlier in the season, we wouldn’t have been fit enough to go like that the whole game.

“Of course you have periods where the opposition have more of the ball and you have to play differently, but we have the confidence and power to keep going for 90 minutes. We’re not allowing the opposition to score easy goals anymore.

“We still need to be more consistent, but if we can get results like we did at Swansea, we’re on the right track. When you score a late goal, it gives everyone an extra feeling and there is definite belief in the squad.”

Tottenham have now taken four more points away from home than at White Hart Lane and Eriksen admits the team must start to perform better in front of their own fans – starting against Newcastle.

“We should feel more relaxed at home, but at the moment we’re getting our points away,” said Eriksen. “Last weekend against Crystal Palace we played OK but got only one point.

“I think I can see progress in what we’re doing at home as well, but we need to start winning.”