• Premier League

Redknapp rues absence of Adebayor and Saha

Harry Redknapp bemoaned his lack of striking options following Tottenham's 1-0 defeat at QPR on Saturday.

Redknapp saw his Spurs side create a plethora of chances at Loftus Road, but he only had Jermain Defoe available to him with Emmanuel Adebayor and Louis Saha sidelined.

Rafael van der Vaart and Gareth Bale both came close to beating Paddy Kenny in the QPR goal, but Spurs could not find a breakthrough even when the hosts were reduced to ten men through Adel Taarabt's sending off.

"We only had one striker fit, I just had to play the one in Jermain [Defoe]," Redknapp said to ESPN. "We've now got to win our last four games, that's what it's going to take now [to qualify for the Champions League].

"Newcastle have done fantastic, whatever they achieve it's been a miracle season for them. They've got Chelsea next week so there will be more twists and turns. We're not giving it up.

"We had no size today. We kept getting crosses in but we had no Adebayor, no Saha. We couldn't get on the end of the final ball."

QPR's winner, a free-kick by Taarabt, was scored from a dubiously-awarded set-piece after Sandro was adjudged to have fouled the former Spurs man. Redknapp felt it wasn't a free-kick, but he refused to attack referee Mark Clattenburg.

"They've only had one shot, after which they camped in front of goal and we couldn't get the break. Apart from the free-kick I don't remember Brad having a save to make," Redknapp said.

"I don't need an explanation, I didn't think it was a foul [for the free-kick], that was all. It should never have resulted in a goal so it was disappointing we conceded from that. They defended for their lives, give them credit for that, it just wouldn't go for us."

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