Harry Redknapp claims Spurs players asked him to get them out of England games

Harry Redknapp during his time at Tottenham Hotspur

Queens Park Rangers manager, Harry Redknapp, has claimed that when he was in charge of Tottenham, England internationals asked him to get them out of national team fixtures.

There are currently no England players from Tottenham in the World Cup squad, after the Three Lions were eliminated after two games following defeats to Italy and Uruguay.

However, four years ago in South Africa, Spurs were represented by five English players. Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend were expected to be called up by Roy Hodgson this summer but both suffered niggling injuries through the second half of the season, meaning they missed out.

Redknapp, though, who was in charge of Spurs from 2008 to 2012, has boldly claimed that some English players he had in his squad asked him to get them out of international fixtures.

Without naming the players, of course, Redknapp has shed some light on the situation.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Redknapp said that the pressure and criticism labelled at the national team was one of the reasons why some players were deterred from representing England.

“When I was at Tottenham two or three international players did not want to play for England,” Redknapp revealed.

“They would come to me and say ‘gaffer, get me out of the game’. It happened on quite a few occasions.”