Redknapp joy after derby win

03 October 2011 08:05

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp insists he never doubted his team's credentials after they extended their winning streak to four matches with a 2-1 victory over bitter rivals Arsenal.

The win was Tottenham's fourth in a row - a streak that seemed impossible five weeks ago when they were hammered 5-1 by Manchester City at White Hart Lane. Since then, Spurs have gone from strength to strength, thanks largely to the arrivals of Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor as well as their ability to keep hold of Luka Modric in the face of interest from Chelsea.

"We're a different team," Redknapp said. "I didn't have a midfield player then, really. Suddenly I was throwing Jake (Livermore) in and playing him in there with Niko Kranjcar, who never played central midfield in his life before. It opens the barn door. I just felt after two or three weeks, I could see what was coming. I never went home and worried about it because I was confident."

He added: "We had Adebayor coming in, we had Scott Parker. We had Sandro coming back.

"I knew we'd suddenly be a much better team."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was defiant after the final whistle claiming that Spurs' first goal should not have been allowed to stand because goalscorer Rafael van der Vaart handled the ball before unleashing the volley that put the hosts ahead.

He said: "It's frustrating because the first goal was handball and I wonder what the linesmen do in these situations. It's a second yellow card as well, because he already had a yellow card."

Gervinho, Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott were all guilty of missing chances in the first half - something which clearly annoyed the Arsenal boss.

"We played with the handbrake on in the first half," he said. "But at half-time we came out and had a go at them and normally got back to 1-1.

"But then we didn't push on enough and let them get back into the game. That shows we are not playing with confidence at the moment. We want to protect our result too much when we have one."

Source: PA