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Tim Sherwood will turn Tottenham’s revenge mission against West Ham into a live audition for the full-time manager’s job - by restoring their swagger.

Caretaker Sherwood hopes to make an instant impact after Spurs dumped Andre Villas-Boas and his boring tactics with a commitment to “get on the front foot as soon as we can and impose ourselves on the game.”

AVB’s dossiers and tactical ablutions turned Tottenham,swashbucklers under predecessor Harry Redknapp, into hermits.

But Sherwood marked his first training session in charge of the squad by reinstating the club’s core values of commitment to attacking football - and to prove the point he could recall striker Emmanuel Adebayor, exiled by Villas-Boas, in a new-look side including two strikers.

And the 44-year-old former Spurs captain wants to banish the nightmare of Sunday’s humiliating 5-0 home defeat by Liverpool, which brought the guillotine down on hapless AVB, by gaining revenge for the Hammers’ shock 3-0 win at White Hart Lane in the Premier League two months ago.

Sherwood, a highly-rated coach in the Redknapp era, hinted that a change in the dugout would also mark a change of approach by the north Londoners, saying: “When you lose your manager, it’s a change and you’ve got to listen to a different voice.

“But I’m hoping to get a few messages across in a short space of time so we can get a positive result against West Ham.

“It’s a huge game, especially on the back of what they did to us at the Lane. We have to get out there on the front foot and we have to impose ourselves on them as soon as we can during the game.”

Sherwood, who won three England caps under Kevin Keegan, has formed a holy trinity holding the fort along with fellow coaches Les Ferdinand and Chris Ramsey.

But if he makes a good impression, both in terms of results and playing style, his interim role could be extended for a longer period.

Former England bosses Fabio Capello and Glenn Hoddle are front-runners to succeed Villas-Boas, while Southampton coach Mauricio Pochettino has also emerged as a possible contender.

(Image: Michael Regan)

As a player, the high-water mark of Sherwood’s career was captaining Blackburn to the title in 1995.

When big-spending Rovers' then-manager Kenny Dalglish expressed an interest in signing French superstar Zinedine Zidane, the club's owner Jack Walker famously replied: “Why do we need to sign Zidane when we’ve got Tim Sherwood?”

Now, Sherwood must find the right combination of flair and fortitude which eluded Villas-Boas following his £110million trolley dash to replace world-record export Gareth Bale with seven new players in the summer.

At face value, it is a good time for Tottenham - who haven't kept a clean sheet at home for six matches - to avenge that October loss to their one-time rivals as preferred tenants in the Olympic Stadium.

The Hammers sit only one point above the relegation zone, and survival means more to them than progress in the League Cup.

Sherwood agreed: “Hopefully, they’ve got their concentration on Premier League safety rather than the cup.

"We have to be patient. They got bodies behind the ball and tried to catch us on the counter-attack. We’re aware of that. Let’s just hope we can impose ourselves on them nice and early, get the crowd behind us and really be up and at them.”

Tottenham are without captain Michael Dawson and midfielder Paulinho, who are both suspended, while Brazilian anchorman Sandro is expected to be out for a week with a calf injury. Defender Jan Vertonghen (ankle) is also missing.

“In defensive areas, we’re quite light, but it’s up to those boys to step up to the mark and perform well for the club and for themselves,” aded Sherwood. “We’ll just crack on with what we’ve got. It ain’t a bad team.”

Tim Sherwood: The facts

Tim Sherwood won the first of his three England caps aged 30, just a few weeks after moving to Tottenham in 1999.

He had skippered Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995 under the management of Kenny Dalglish but went to White Hart Lane for £3 million.

After a row with manager Glenn Hoddle, he left Spurs in 2003 and joined Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth, helping them into the Premier League before breaking his leg.

Although he spent a season at Coventry, a playing career that began as an 18-year-old at local club Watford and saw him also turn out for Norwich was effectively over.

He joined Redknapp’s Spurs coaching staff in 2008 and became an important link with chairman Daniel Levy, who turned to him after firing Andre Villas-Boas on Monday.

Tottenham vs West Ham: Probable teams

Tottenham (4-4-2): Lloris; Walker, Chiriches, Kaboul, Rose; Capoue, Townsend, Holtby, Dembele; Adebayor, Defoe.

West Ham (4-2-3-1) Jaaskelainen; McCartney, Collins, Rat, O’Brien; Collison, Diarra; Jarvis, Morrison, Taylor; Carlton Cole.