Emmanuel Adebayor says abusive chants will not affect him

Emmanuel Adebayor is adamant he will not be affected by abusive chants by Arsenal fans by insisting: "If I can survive the bullets in Angola then a few mindless insults will have little impact."

The former Gunners forward was the subject of chants from sections of the travelling fans during Sunday's north London derby mocking the deadly gun attack on the Togo team bus in January 2010 in which Adebayor survived.

Both Tottenham and Arsenal have denounced the offensive chanting which also saw Arsene Wenger taunted during the game at White Hart Lane.

Adebayor refuses to let the chanting upset him and is glad he maintained his composure.

He told The Sun: "The songs that they sung about me were very bad, but was I surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes.

"Obviously it was all meant to hurt me, to upset me, to anger me.

"It is sad that parents let their children hear or sing such things. As a child you are influenced by your parents' actions.

"You see them doing it and you think it is the correct way to behave. "It's very sad how the memory of something so awful could be used in such an awful way.

"To be honest I wasn't surprised by it, I had been expecting something. "And it didn't affect me at all. I have learnt a lot in the last few years and the best response is a positive performance.

"I just blocked it all out and concentrated on playing my best. I just hope that people remember this game for the right reasons and how well we played as it was being shown all around the world.

"It'd be a great shame if they just remember the stupid songs and not the great football. I'm so glad I kept my dignity in the face of people behaving like that."

Adebayor added: "But those chants won't ever have an effect on me. I've been through too many difficult times to let a minority of people singing silly songs affect my performance.

"But if I can survive the bullets in Angola then a few mindless insults will have little impact."

PA