Tottenham Hotspur caretaker boss Tim Sherwood has revealed that affording Emmanuel Adebayor starting berths has been an easy decision due to his history in the Premier League.

Adebayor starred in the 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday, bagging a brace to bring his total for the week to three following his strike in the 2-1 defeat to West Ham United in the Capital One Cup during the week.

The former Arsenal and Manchester City hitman had found first-team opportunities scarce under Andre Villas-Boas's reign at White Hart Lane recently, but Sherwood claims that the forward's famed goalscoring prowess was enough to earn him a recall under his stewardship.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Sherwood said: "Emmanuel Adebayor has not been playing, so he did not require much motivating. You put him back in because of what he has done in history."

Adam Lallana fired the Saints into a 13th-minute lead, before Adebayor hit back midway through the first half to earn Sherwood's men parity at the break.

Jos Hooiveld converted into his own goal shortly after half time, before Lallana turned provider and set up Rickie Lambert to draw level.

However, the Togolese marksman had the final of the afternoon by scoring his second goal of the afternoon to seal the points for Spurs.