• Losing defenders to African Cup of Nations is ‘a disaster for us’
• David Bentley and Roman Pavlyuchenko keen to leave
The African Cup of Nations could be a “disaster” for Tottenham Hotspur, according to the manager Harry Redknapp, who is worried about losing the defenders Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Sébastien Bassong for up to a month.
With Ledley King (knee) and Jonathan Woodgate (groin) out indefinitely, Bassong’s absence may leave Redknapp with only one first-team central defender, Michael Dawson, to choose from.
Spurs are also facing up to the possibility of losing two other players permanently, as Redknapp last night said that both Roman Pavlyuchenko and David Bentley are keen to leave the club.
However it is coping without two of his first-choice defenders for a month that most worries Redknapp. “It’s a disaster really, a disaster for us losing a couple of players,” he said. “When you sign them I guess you know you’re going to lose them every couple of years, playing in those games. It’s a chance you take.”
Redknapp, however, said he is unlikely to be in the market for a centre-half in the January transfer window. “I’ve got four [central defenders] and if one of King or Woodgate comes back we’ll be OK,” he said. “[Vedran] Corluka can play there, Tom [Huddlestone] can play there.”
Redknapp hinted that Bentley and Pavlyuchenko may be back in the squad for tonight against Manchester City after increasing their efforts in training. “David would like to move, there is no doubt about that. He feels he needs to move on and play. Pav wants to move but we are not mad to sell them.
“They are not going cheap and both are good players. David’s head has probably gone down a bit and it is hard because he wants to play.”
The Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy,has told the manager that players will have to be sold to fund any transfer activity in January. Indeed Manchester City’s financial clout scuppered Redknapp’s hopes of signing Gareth Barry last summer. “I was interested in him but once Man City came in for Gareth we couldn’t get near him,” Redknapp claimed, “couldn’t get anywhere near. We were on a completely different level.”
Assou-Ekotto, meanwhile, will not be sanctioned by the club following his altercation with a fan. The full-back pushed the man after he verbally abused the Cameroon international in the wake of Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Wolves.
Tottenham HotspurHarry RedknappAfrican Nations CupPremier LeagueManchester CityMikey Staffordguardian.co.uk
