Emmanuel Adebayor protests but admits charge

Emmanuel Adebayor maintains he did not intend to act in a violent manner, even though he will be handed a three-match ban this morning for his tackle on Robin van Persie.

The £25million Manchester City striker has admitted a charge of violent conduct, leaving an FA disciplinary panel to sit in judgement this morning.

There is not much doubt over the outcome though, with a three-match suspension inevitable.

It means Adebayor will sit out Sunday's Manchester derby at Old Trafford, plus next week's Carling Cup tie with Fulham and the September 28 Premier League tussle against West Ham.

Yet Adebayor still believes his actions do not warrant the punishment set to be handed down, a view City endorse.

"Manchester City announce that both the club and Emmanuel Adebayor have reluctantly accepted the violent conduct charge laid by the Football Association in the wake of the victory over Arsenal," said City in a statement.

"The player strongly maintains that he did not intend to act in a violent manner."

Adebayor's sense of injustice means he will almost certainly contest the additional charge of improper conduct for his controversial goal celebration.

The Togo forward has until September 30 to decide what to do, although at least manager Mark Hughes knows he can now plan to face Manchester United without his four-goal forward.

Hughes does have problems. Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz have already been consigned to the injured list and Carlos Tevez is rated extremely doubtful to face his old club.

In addition, City had an scare over Micah Richards earlier this week when the young defender was forced to miss two days' training after going down with a bout of tonsillitis.

Thankfully, Richards' symptoms have now eased, which should allow him to face Sir Alex Ferguson's men, along with Stephen Ireland, who is optimistic about his recovery from an ankle injury that forced him to be replaced at half-time in Saturday's win against Arsenal.

And, despite the fitness concerns, Hughes' assistant Mark Bowen insists City are buzzing with expectation following a perfect start to the campaign.

"Everybody's really looking forward to it," Bowen told http://www.mcfc.co.uk.

"There's a real buzz about the derby, especially coming on the back of the Arsenal performance.

"It's been said already that there is an excitement around the place, an expectation. There's a heck of a lot of confidence around the training ground and we will go to Old Trafford with confidence."