• Premier League

Redknapp: Townsend can be a force for Spurs

Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp has predicted on-loan winger Andros Townsend will be a Premier League force next season.

Tottenham player Townsend has scored two goals in 15 league appearances for QPR, and again proved his potential with a decent performance in the 1-0 loss to Arsenal, making life difficult for Gunners defender Nacho Monreal.

Redknapp says there is much more to come from the 21-year-old, commenting: "He'll be a top player. He gets at people, he attacks you. [Arsenal] paid £10 million for the left-back and he has ripped him apart.

"He is relentless. He just runs at you, runs at you, runs at you. He has been first-class. It's difficult for him back at Spurs. You've got [Aaron] Lennon and [Gareth] Bale there, so it will be hard for him to play regularly. He'll have his work cut out.

"But he'll be a good player for Spurs next year. He will go back there a better player. He has proved to himself what he can do. He has proved he can play in the Premier League."

And Redknapp believes the England Under-21 international's versatility will make him an attractive option for any Premier League club next season.

"It is up to Tottenham. He will want to play," Redknapp said. "He is good enough to play somewhere. And he has proved he can do that.

"I've played him off the right, whereas they played him off the left all the time. I think the right suits him. He comes in off the right and can get shots in. I think it's a move that suits him."

But Redknapp is under no illusions he will not have Townsend at his disposal next season as the London club fall back into the Championship.

However, the former West Ham, Southampton, Portsmouth and Tottenham boss has not let that dissuade him from believing QPR can make a quick ascension back to the Premier League.

"I'm taking a big cut in wages. Money is not everything to me. I don't have to go to work, really," Redknapp said. "I do it because I enjoy it, I've enjoyed it here and I'd like to build a team that can get back up because I like the people here, I like the chairman (Tony Fernandes) and the fans.

"If I didn't have the hunger then I wouldn't come to work. I'd stay at home and play golf every day. When I've had enough that's what I will do.

"But I love it. I still love the buzz of winning. Trying to win, the ups and downs of it all. My target is to get promotion next year. That's the aim. I don't intend to stick around for four years in the Championship.

"I want to build a team to try to get up. It will be hard, I'm not silly enough to think it will be easy. It's a tough league. With a bit of luck, if I can get some players in, change things around then we'll give it a good go. But it won't be easy."

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