Redknapp not keen on Tottenham having Europa League campaign next season

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp would rather his team not have to play in the Europa League so they could focus on returning to the Champions League next season.

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Harry Redknapp said that playing in next season's Europa League will severely hamper Tottenham Hotspur's chances of making it into the Champions League the following year. Ahead of tonight's game with struggling Blackpool, the Tottenham manager said the increased schedule of games the Europa League brings will not help his side in their bid to finish in the top four next season. The fifth-placed side are seven points adrift of the top four this year. "Teams who get into the Europa League want to get out of it," Redknapp said. "Half of them put reserve teams out in the early stages and it's difficult to play every Thursday and Sunday. It disrupts things. We didn't have European football last year and we finished fourth. That was a big advantage to us. I wanted Man City to stay in it this year because they were playing every Thursday night, slipping off to Azerbaijan to play a team out there."