Spurs unfazed by England talk, says Redknapp

Harry Redknapp says the notion that his side’s slump is connected to speculation linking him with the England job is ‘absolute nonsense’.

A draw at home against Stoke City on Wednesday saw Tottenham end a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats – a sequence which has coincided with Redknapp being made the odds-on favourite to succeed Fabio Capello, who resigned last month.

Spurs, who recently surrendered a 10-point lead over north London rivals Arsenal, travel to fellow Champions League hopefuls Chelsea on Saturday looking to revive their plans to cement a top-four place in the Premier League and the 65-year-old insists that his players have not been distracted by talk of his potential exit.

“Absolute nonsense. It’s the biggest load of nonsense I’ve ever heard,” he declared when asked whether the England speculation had disrupted his side’s focus.

“They don’t care if I’m the manager next year. They wouldn’t lose any sleep over that. That’s football. Footballers are footballers. They play the game, they come in every day and train.

“If somebody else walks in tomorrow … then the King is dead, long live the King. That is football.

“They don’t worry that ‘Harry is going to England’, or ‘Harry is going somewhere else’, it doesn’t happen that way. They don’t think about that.

“I don’t think about that. It’s never entered my mind. I don’t know what’s going to happen to me at the end of the season. Whatever happens to me, happens to me. I don’t lose any sleep over it one way or the other – whether I’m here, somewhere else or nowhere. That’s life, you know.”

The Spurs boss also stated that, due to a string of difficult fixtures, his side were bound to lose some points in recent matches, and face another testing game against Chelsea on Saturday.

“Tough games, tough games,” Redknapp added of his club’s recent matches. “Arsenal away, Manchester United at home, Everton away; three very, very tough fixtures.

“In all honesty, you’d probably have taken three points from those games. We got none.

“It’s a big game for us, for sure. We’ve got a lead over Chelsea but we’ve got to maintain that lead. It’s going to be tight getting down to the end of the season. The Champions League places are all up for grabs now.

“It’s just closed up. From being 10 points clear we’re now only five points clear of Chelsea. From being 10 points clear of Arsenal we’re suddenly behind Arsenal by a point.

“It’s not been ideal. Arsenal have been on an incredible run of winning games. We’ve struggled to pick up results the last few weeks.”