Redknapp happy despite Spurs slump

Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp insisted he was happy with his side, despite them allowing a two-goal lead to slip to a 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen in the Champions League.

An own goal from Bremen defender Petri Pasanen and a Peter Crouch header saw Spurs race into a 2-0 lead after just 18 minutes on Tuesday.

But Portugal striker Hugo Almeida pulled one back for Bremen just prior to the break before Germany winger Marko Marin hit the equaliser on 47 minutes.

Tottenham, making their Champions League debut, dominated the first half before losing midfielder Rafael van der Vaart with a calf strain and then lost the momentum as Bremen fought back to share the points in the Group A clash.

“I thought we were fantastic for the first 43 minutes, then we conceded a goal just before half-time which gave them a lifeline, they hadn’t had a shot before that,” said Redknapp.

“They came back to 2-1 down and it gave them belief. The goal came at the right time for them, it changed their attitude and gave them a massive lift.

“It turned the game, they would have gone into the half-time break on the floor.

“It allowed them to come back at us, but if we play like that every week we won’t go far wrong. A draw isn’t a bad result for us.”

Spurs were without England striker Jermain Defoe and defender Michael Dawson, who both have ligament damage and Redknapp said his side played well despite the set backs.

“We came here looking for a result, we had injuries down the spine of the team, so I thought we played some good stuff,” he said.

“We had a bad six or seven minutes and you fear the worse, we could have crumbled, but we rallied, had a few chances at the end and we could have won it.”

With their group rivals Twente drawing 2-2 with defending champions Inter Milan, Redknapp said the challenge to qualify will be a tough one.

“We came here and we could have been three or four goals up at half-time, we just want to get enough points to get out of this group,” he said.

“It will be a tight group, there are no weak sides in there.

“I am not thinking of anything now other than Wolves this weekend (in the English Premier League), these games are hard after Champions League games.”

Bremen winger Marko Marin – who was a constant thorn in Spurs’ side – admitted his side had been punished for a slow start.

“We didn’t start well, but we showed we have moral and can fight back and we can live with the point,” said Marin.

Coach Thomas Schaaf admitted he was stunned by his side’s first-half performance having held defending Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich to a goalless draw last weekend.

“I constantly asked myself how something like this could happen after we did so well in Bayern,” said Schaaf.

“We have the quality to come back as we have done before, so we earned the point.”