Harry Redknapp set to return to Spurs dugout for Aston Villa match

Harry Redknapp has told friends he is "ready to go" and will return to the dug-out for Aston Villa's visit to Tottenham Hotspur on Monday evening. The manager is recuperating from heart surgery and the 64-year-old has not taken charge of the side since the 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers on 30 October, with the procedure taking place on 2 November. Since then Tottenham have lost 1-0 to Rubin Kazan in the Europa League and beaten Fulham 3-1 in the Premier League. Joe Jordan, the Spurs coach, said: "Maybe he'll pop in during the lead-up to that game. If he comes to the game he'll be on the bench [not the stands]. The experience in our last game against Fulham – I don't think it will have been too easy to watch the last 20 minutes on television [Spurs were leading 2-1 but under sustained pressure until a late Jermain Defoe strike]. If he's at the stadium why wouldn't he be on the bench making decisions and being involved? Against Fulham it would have been torture watching the game and not making substitutions or decisions. He will have suffered a lot more." Asked how involved Redknapp has been during his period of recovery, Jordan said: "Over the last couple of weeks the most important thing after his operation was to have rest and care. He's been in contact with people at the club. With respect to what's happened, we've left him alone and haven't been on to him unless it was really important." Jordan hinted that Redknapp has had a say in team selection. "We have looked at it," he said. "In the last league game it was not too difficult as we had players at our disposal who had played against QPR and played exceptionally well in the first half and we did not have to go far from that selection. It was different circumstance when we played against Kazan as he had to make sure that we had a team for the weekend game as we had one or two injuries. What we have tried to avoid was being on the phone to him constantly. "When he feels that there is a need to make a call which he does to find out how things are in training then we will answer the call and give him all the information." Following the international break Jordan reported that Rafael van der Vaart had picked up a hamstring injury while playing for Holland. "Van der Vaart trained yesterday and from what the medical people are saying he is at 75%. It sounds good but whether he goes from 75% to 100%, we will take it from there. He has got a chance [of playing against Villa] but it is important he doesn't get a recurrence of what he had when he was away with Holland. Luka Modric has played the two games but others have only played one game," Jordan said of the general injury picture. "We don't have too many problems, but we will get them out and train them then take it from there. Vedran Corluka played the first game but was suspended for the second. There was talk of him having a problem with his ankle, but he is saying he is OK."