• Euro 2012

Country more important than club - Redknapp

Harry Redknapp insists that a player's international commitments should take precedence © Getty Images

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Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp insists that nothing should stop a player from representing their country, especially not commitments from their club.

Redknapp has been linked with the England manager's job in the past and his views on the club vs country debate certainly seem to enhance his prospects of landing the post in the future. However, any Spurs fans who may like to see club football take precedence will be disappointed for now.

"I think more and more with fans it's going that way now," Redknapp told Sky Sports News. ''But certainly I'd never stop a player going to play for his country. I think it's difficult to pull people out when they've been selected for their countries. It's a great honour and I'd want them to go and play if possible.

"I can't genuinely remember any instances where I've said to a player, 'You're not going to play for your country - you've got to stay here because your club comes first'. I wouldn't do that."

Redknapp has seen other teams' players ducking out of international games - especially friendlies - but thinks that they should be proud to don the shirt of their national side and is happy that his squad are motivated by the Three Lions.

''They all want to play,'' he added. ''The England lads years ago, people like Bobby Moore, they didn't get 100 and odd caps, and (David) Beckham and Alan Shearer, because they were pulling out of squads.

"They turned up for every squad and wanted to play, and they were proud to play for their country, and I think most of the players still are."

The Spurs boss also conceded that he was powerless to stop his players getting injuries while on international duty and that the club just had to deal with the situation as best they could when the players return.

"What can you do? They can get injured in training,'' he said. ''There's nothing they can do about it. If you're going to stop people (playing), you wouldn't have an England team, a Welsh team or an Irish team or whatever. It's just one of those things."

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