Tottenham Hotspur FC

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• Manager:Harry Redknapp

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Missed opportunity irks Harry

21 Jan 2010 - 07:34:21

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Harry Redknapp admitted Tottenham wasted the chance to boost their top-four hopes with a 2-0 defeat at Liverpool.

Spurs remained fourth in the table despite their Anfield disappointment, which was compounded when Jermain Defoe saw a second-half effort controversially ruled out for offside.

But after passing up the chance to extend their advantage over the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa in the race for Champions League qualification, Redknapp admitted he was bitterly disappointed.

"I came here thinking we could win tonight so I was disappointed really. We missed a chance," he said.

"We needed to get off to a decent start to get the crowd quiet but they scored an early goal.

"To be fair to Liverpool they worked really hard and we found it hard to get our game going.

"It (the top-four race) is open. Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Tottenham - it is a toss-up.

"We've been on a good run but just because we've lost one game it doesn't mean we're out of it."

The game's moment of controversy came just after half-time when Defoe, who was coming back from an offside position, dispossessed goalkeeper Pepe Reina from Sotirios Kyrgiakos' pass before turning the ball into the net only for the linesman's flag to rule the goal out.

"I'll probably sit up at home tonight reading the rule book for a couple of hours and see what the rules actually are," added Redknapp.

"The referee nor the linesman seemed to know . They probably phoned a friend!

"Is he active, is it second phase? There are so many rules now. But if it was offside it was offside.

"I haven't really looked at it too much but it makes no difference now."