Redknapp acknowledges Euro battle

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp said the race for the fifth European spot will be tight after his side drew 2-2 with West Bromwich Albion.

Spurs fell behind early on Saturday after a goal from Peter Odemwingie, but Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe gave Tottenham the lead at White Hart Lane.

But West Brom substitute Simon Cox equalised in the 81st minute, leaving Tottenham only three points ahead of Liverpool in the English Premier League, albeit with a game in hand.

Redknapp said his team had a challenge to finish ahead of the Reds, who thrashed Birmingham City 5-0.

“I think we’ve got it all on to finish above Liverpool still. They’re coming like an express train so it’s going to be tight up there,” Redknapp said.

“I don’t look at the points, you can’t. If you start saying ‘we’ll win this game’, ‘we’ll draw there’, it doesn’t work that way.”

“We’ve got unbelievably hard fixtures to come but we’ve got to try to win them. We’ve got to go to Chelsea, we’ve got to go to Liverpool and we’ve got to go to Manchester City.”

“We’re in there and we’ve got a chance still so we’ve got to go and give it our best shot. If we don’t do it this year we’ll try again next year.”

West Brom manager Roy Hodgson said he was happy with a draw but warned his team, which is six points from the drop zone, they are not yet safe.

“I just wish teams below us had less points so we could relax, maybe 40 points won’t be enough, but I’m a lot happier with 40 than 39 put it that way. Once again teams around us drew or lost.”

Hodgson also praised the attacking instincts of Redknapp’s side, including their use of the wide areas.

“We got back to 2-2 and then see (Peter) Crouch and (Aaron) Lennon come on, but I thought we showed resilience and our centre-backs were outstanding,” Hodgson said.

“On the run of things, even though they had more of the ball, we don’t need to apologise for taking a point here.”