Qualification for the next stages of the Europa League is ‘almost impossible’ – Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp

Following the defeat to PAOK, Spurs are relying on the Greek side to defeat Rubin Kazan, whilst needing to overhaul a five-goal deficit against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday

15 Dec 2011 15:06:00

By Simon Sinclair

More On :  Tottenham, Harry Redknapp
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Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has conceded his side are in an ‘impossible position’ to qualify for the next stages of the Europa League.

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Spurs need to beat Thursday’s opponents Shamrock Rovers by five goals, whilst relying on the already qualified PAOK to beat Rubin Kazan, to progress, an outcome which the 64-year-old believes is highly unlikely.

He told the club’s official website: “This will be a tough game for us, no doubts about it. We’ve left ourselves in an almost impossible position after losing at home to PAOK.

“It’s a difficult task and I’m not going to disrespect Shamrock Rovers by suggesting that we’re going to score five or six goals.

“To win the game alone will be a difficult enough task but we’ll try to do that and go from there.”

Rovers impressed when they played at White Hart Lane earlier in the season and took a shock lead through Stephen Rice, with Redknapp admitting he was concerned the Irishman could have caused an upset.

“It wasn’t a nice position to be in,” he added.

The former Portsmouth boss is hopeful of victory on Thursday however, as he looks to eradicate the memory of Spurs' defeat to PAOK.

He added: “We were red-hot favourites and we don’t want to lose any game. I want to win on Thursday night. We had a strong enough team against PAOK but we made a poor start and couldn’t get the goals back.

“We’ve come here with a decent team and we want to win this game.”

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