Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed that his goalscoring exploits owe a certain something to regular sessions of yoga - and that's not stretching a point.

City’s Togo international striker and joint leading scorer reckons that the popular Indian discipline he took up while at Arsenal stands him in good stead mentally and physically.

Manu checked in at Carrington today on a players’ day off to have a long session on the mat as he aims for a Barclays Premier League return against visitors Burnley on Saturday.

He explained: “I don’t do it every day, that would be impossible, but twice a week with pleasure. You don’t need it every day. I’m not too advanced but I’m getting there. I’m working on it!

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I started when I was at Arsenal. It’s something that helps you in recovery, it’s one of the best things you can do

 Emmanuel Adebayor

 

“I really love doing yoga when I have the chance. There’s plenty of reaching and stretching so it benefits your back and thighs. You have to keep on going.

“I know a lot of players are doing yoga now. Kolo started at Arsenal with me, Shay Given does it. You have to do anything you can that will help you stay away from injury. It is also a mind thing - you need to be fit and alert so you’ll score goals.”

Adey, who has always insisted he owes a great deal to his old Arsenal mentor, added: “One day Arsene Wenger brought in a lady who told us that yoga was good for us as players.

“If the boss thought it was good for you, I thought: Why not do it? And it helped me a lot. So when I came here and heard there was a lady across the road who taught yoga, I was very happy.”