Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp sees Manchester City as main rivals for last Champions League spot

EPL – Blackpool vsTottenham, Harry Redknapp(Getty Images)

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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes his team’s only threat for a place in next year’s Champions League is Manchester City as the race for the top four spots in the Premier League begins to hot up.

The former Portsmouth boss has seen his team swapping around endlessly between fourth and fifth place along with rivals City and Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea, but the Spurs coach is convinced that the Blues of London are certs for a top four spot.

Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City once looked to be in with a fighting chance of landing the title, but following a bad run of form the Citizens will be happy to settle for a place in Europe’s most coveted club competition.

Redknapp insists the season finale won’t be much different to that of last year, with Spurs and City contesting for fourth place and a ticket to Europe’s elite tournement.

The 64-year-old told reporters: “I don’t see Chelsea not being in the top four. I felt before the Liverpool game, which they lost, that they could still win the league.

“If they had beaten Liverpool that day they would have been in a very strong position.

“They are a very strong outfit. I still think Tottenham can be in the top four, and I think it’s between ourselves and Man City now.”

The north London side won eight of their final 11 games last season, one of which being a tie at Eastlands, and have spent a drop in the ocean compared to their challengers, who have invested £150 million on new players since last summer.

Tottenham have parted with less than a third of that amount but find themselves in the last-16 of the Champions League, with one foot in the quarter-finals after beating AC Milan at the San Siro in the first leg.

Redknapp added: “For us to be where we are in the league and to have had such a great season in the Champions League is a fantastic achievement so it hasn’t affected us at all – we have managed to fight on both fronts and have done great.”

Spurs have recently arrived back in England from a five-day training camp in Dubai and play Wolves on Sunday, but will be missing important figures with Rafael Van der Vaart and Gareth Bale both out, yet Redknapp hopes they can both return for Wednesday’s second leg with Milan..

“I’m hoping Gareth will be fit,” Redknapp said.

“He feels ok. He has just got to push himself through it now. We’d love him back. We’ll wait and see.

“Rafa is the same. He will not be fit for Sunday, but there is a chance he will be fit for Milan.”

The European hopefuls are also down on squad members with the likes of Ledley King, Tom Huddlestone, Jonathan Woodgate and Vedran Corluka all struggling to gain full fitness. But Redknapp is confident that in just a few weeks his team will be fighting fit.

He continued: “We trained hard and the injured players worked hard with the fitness coaches and physios in Dubai.

“We are close to having an awful lot of players back fit.

“Within another two weeks we’ll have five or six coming back which will make a big difference.”