BBC Sportfootball

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Related BBC sites

Page last updated at 23:50 GMT, Monday, 30 November 2009

Redknapp sets league as priority over cup run

Advertisement

Spurs will rotate squad against Man Utd - Redknapp

Harry Redknapp is more focused on qualifying for the Champions League than winning a trophy at Tottenham.

The Spurs boss is likely to confirm his priorities by fielding a weakened team in the Carling Cup quarter-final against Manchester United on Tuesday.

Tottenham, who won the Carling Cup in 2008, are third in the Premier League after a fine start to the season.

He said: "Wembley is a great day out but I would love to get into a Champions League position with Spurs."

Tottenham ended their silverware drought two seasons ago with glory at Wembley under Juande Ramos, beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final.

But the miserable slump in form that followed in the league ultimately led to the exit of Ramos and Redknapp's appointment as manager.

606: DEBATE
don_tottenham

Redknapp added: "You can win a cup and have a bit of luck on the way but to get to a Champions League position would be done through a whole season. It would be great for us.

"It is a one-off game at Wembley, a great day out for the fans. If you win it everybody enjoys it but Tottenham won it two years ago and then went into freefall. So it didn't do them any good."

Redknapp feels the title will be won by Chelsea or United, leaving Arsenal and Liverpool to scrap with Spurs, Aston Villa and Manchester City for the final two qualifying Champions League spots.

"The four clubs have had a monopoly on it," he said. "I'm not saying we're going to do it but we have got a chance.

"It's not impossible. If we sit here and say we're never going to do it, we never will.

"If the manager doesn't believe it, the players would think 'why should we?' But it is possible. We have a good squad here.

"This time last year, you wouldn't even have considered us breaking in there, we were at the bottom of the league.

"We are getting to the stage where it is possible for us to go away (to top-four clubs) and feel like we've got a chance of winning."



Print Sponsor


see also
Man Utd 2-0 Tottenham
01 Dec 09 |  League Cup
Tottenham 9-1 Wigan
22 Nov 09 |  Premier League
Redknapp doubts Arsenal's chances
31 Oct 09 |  Premier League
'Suicidal' Spurs appal Redknapp
31 Oct 09 |  Football
Pavlyuchenko to demand Spurs exit
11 Nov 09 |  Tottenham
Redknapp denies departure rumours
02 Oct 09 |  Tottenham


related bbc links:

related internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites