Harry Redknapp says this may be his best Tottenham Hotspur side yet

Harry Redknapp believes he may have his best Tottenham Hotspur side yet, superior to the team that took the club into the Champions League for the first time two seasons ago. Spurs have won their last four Premier League games – including a 4-0 win over Liverpool and a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the north London derby – and Redknapp said this could be his best team. "Potentially yeah. It's a good group of players. I think that with Scott [Parker] coming in, [Emmanuel] Adebayor coming in – they are certainly could be a big influence on us this year. Kyle Walker is emerging as a top-class right-back, so we're looking stronger. "When they came in I thought we looked OK. I knew at the start of the year [season] we'd be OK. Now I've got Scott Parker, I've got Sandro, it's a different looking team. "Our pace in Europe last year came from [Aaron] Lennon and [Gareth] Bale. Obviously Adebayor gives you more pace up front than what we had. I think we've got the potential to be up there all year but I also think Liverpool are going to be bang there. You wouldn't be surprised to see Liverpool beat Man United [in Saturday's early kick-off]." Adebayor is rated "50-50" by Redknapp to play at Newcastle United on Sunday, as are Lennon (groin) and Sandro (calf), while Vedran Corluka is out due to a foot problem and Niko Kranjcar has a torn thigh that means he is likely to miss at least two weeks. Alan Pardew's Newcastle side have made a surprisingly good start to the season and stand fourth, three points better off than Spurs who have 12. But Redknapp does not believe Newcastle will finish there. "Alan Pardew has done a great job and they're a strong team but he would think that finishing in the top seven or eight would be a good achievement," he said. Redknapp believes Jermain Defoe can replace Wayne Rooney in the England team following the Manchester United forward's three-game suspension for next summer's Euro 2012 finals in Ukraine and Poland. "It's up to Jermain to have a great season and push himself," he said. "It's wide open. I think we will only play with one striker, with [Steven] Gerrard behind somebody, whoever it is – whether it be Jermain or Darren Bent or Bobby Zamora or whoever he decides to play." Redknapp has played down a Spurs move for David Beckham, who trained with the club last season. "It's a difficult one. Listen, you would love him around your football club. You couldn't get a better professional and a nicer guy but he wants to play and it would be difficult. I have a lot of players in that sort of position so it wouldn't be easy but who knows. Let's wait and see what happens when David's contract runs out at the [LA] Galaxy."