Harry Redknapp urges FA to delay appointment of Fabio Capello England successor

Redknapp has been charged on two counts (PA)

Harry Redknapp thinks the Football Association should wait until the end of the season before considering who will take over from Fabio Capello as England manager.

Tottenham boss Redknapp is favourite to succeed Capello, who confirmed this morning that he intends to stick to his pledge of leaving his post after the European Championships next summer.

The FA are thought to be considering Redknapp as the next Three Lions manager, but he is likely to face competition from Roy Hodgson and other foreign candidates for the position.

If the FA do decide that Redknapp is the man they want, the man himself would prefer it if they did not approach him until the end of the season as he thinks it could derail Tottenham's push for a top-four finish.

"It's very difficult for them to choose another manager if he's already working," Redknapp said.

"It's difficult for a manager to agree to take over if he knows he'll be leaving his club at the end of the year. It wouldn't be fair to the club.

"When managers say they'll quit at the end of the season, their form normally dips because of that. That wouldn't be an ideal situation.

"You can't do it during the season. To give it to someone who's working at a club is unfair to the club he works for."

Bookmakers have shortened the odds on Redknapp taking the job after he took Spurs on a remarkable winning streak that put them within striking distance of second-place Manchester United.

Redknapp's men have dropped just two points in their last 10 matches and a sixth straight win against Bolton tomorrow will set a new record in the Premier League era for the north London club.

Now that Spurs are practically out of the Europa League following a 2-1 loss to PAOK Salonika on Wednesday, Redknapp thinks his team have a better chance of clinching their first title for 50 years.

"The other teams up there around us will be disappointed that we've gone out," said Redknapp, whose team can move into second with a win over Owen Coyle's side at White Hart Lane.

"If I were them, I'd be saying: 'I hope they win, I hope they stay in that competition'.

"I'm sure they'll think it's a blow we're likely to get knocked out and they'd much rather see us in there every Thursday night, playing another 20-odd games or whatever it is to get to the final."

Redknapp admits that dropping out of the Europa League would make it harder for him to keep his fringe players happy.

Heurelho Gomes, Vedran Corluka, Sebastien Bassong and Roman Pavlyuchenko have rarely featured in the league this term, but have enjoyed an extended spell in the team in Europe.

Striker Pavlyuchenko looks the most likely to leave the club in January after admitting he fears missing out on Russia's Euro 2012 squad due to a lack of game time.

Didier Drogba, who this week turned down a contract extension at Chelsea, has been mentioned as a possible target for Tottenham and Redknapp refused to rule out a move for the player today.

"Drogba is a top player, a fantastic player, so, who knows? I couldn't sit here and say we wouldn't be interested," he said.

"Anyone would be interested in having Didier Drogba in their team but we have not made any enquiries."

Rafael van der Vaart missed last week's victory at West Brom with a hamstring injury, but is available for tomorrow's game, giving Redknapp a selection headache after Jermain Defoe scored at the Baggies alongside first-choice striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

The Spurs manager said: "It's a difficult decision. Rafa is available but Jermain scored a good goal last week. Both of them are outstanding and neither deserve to be left out of the team."

PA