Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor has insisted that he was "very disappointed" to have missed a penalty for his side during their shootout defeat to Basel in the Europa League.

Adebayor has been criticised for his effort, which sailed over the crossbar, but the Togo international believes that scoring from 12 yards is not as easy as people imagine.

The 29-year-old told reporters: "It's tough. You run around for 120 minutes, you give everything you have in your stomach, you are tired, you play with 10 men for 30 minutes and at the end of the day you have to take a penalty.

"The pressure is there when you take the ball. It's not the reason why we missed. We had to score, but it's not easy for us. I have taken penalties for Arsenal and Real Madrid. It's a gamble.

"You miss or you score. I missed against Basel. I am very disappointed, but that's football. You just have to keep focused and keep going."

The former Arsenal and Manchester City forward has scored just six goals for Spurs this season.