Harry still looking at the bright side

Harry Redknapp insists the race to finish in the top four is wide open after Tottenham blew their chance of reclaiming the fourth spot in a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa yesterday.

Redknapp's Spurs side had been pushed down to fifth spot following Liverpool's victory over Everton and their failure to overcome Aston Villa at White Hart Lane means they now sit one point behind Rafael Benitez's side.

Villa sit two points further back having drawn level with sixth placed Manchester City who unexpectedly lost at Hull City [1-2].

Redknapp, who believes that only Manchester United and Chelsea are guaranteed to qualify for next season's Champions League, believes there will be many more twists and turns in the battle to qualify for Europe before the end of the season.

"Obviously, it was a big result for Liverpool," said the manager.

"They ground out a result, it's their weekend this week, it will be somebody else' s next week, somebody else's the week after.

"Of course it's going to be tight, it's going to go all the way to the wire. You didn't see Manchester City getting beat at Hull today, not many people would have tipped that one, would they?"

O'Neill echoed Redknapp's thoughts although he believes Liverpool's move up to fourth could be a sign the Anfield club are over the problems that dogged them during the first half of the season.

"Nobody would have expected Manchester City to get beaten," he said.

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.