Tottenham bank on A-team for Liverpool test

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will have his senior players returning to the squad as they look to extend their winning run over Liverpool to five home matches on Sunday.

Aside from Kyle Walker, Redknapp rested his entire team from the victory over Wolves when his side travelled to Greece to face PAOK in the Europa League, emphasising his priorities this season.

Spurs view Kenny Dalglish's side as a direct rival for a top-four place in the Premier League, so Redknapp wanted his first-choice players fresh for the clash at White Hart Lane.

It means Brad Friedel, who is not registered for European competition, will return in goal in place of Carlo Cudicini. Heurelho Gomes has been out of favour and will play in the League Cup next week.

"Brad Friedel has been fantastic," said Redknapp. "At the moment, in the Premier League, Brad has the jersey. I think he's been magnificent. I'm lucky. We've got three top goalkeepers here.

"Gomes will get games. I will play him at Stoke in the Carling (League) Cup next Tuesday."

Redknapp also wants to play Ledley King in the heart of defence but the Spurs captain will need the usual late checks on his knee before a decision is made on selection.

King has been told by Redknapp he needs to play around 20 games this season to earn a new contract. It is a difficult target considering his chronic knee problems but the 30-year-old believes it is possible.

"It was a total nightmare last season trying to get the groin right, so I worked hard over the summer and coming into this season, it feels a lot better than it did," he said.

"I hope I'm just back to concentrating on looking after the knee now and hopefully nothing else will crop up. If I can just manage the knee, there is no reason I can't play quite regularly."

There will be scrutiny on referee Mike Jones following Liverpool's last game when Dalglish claimed his team have been on the wrong end of decisions this season. It led to the Anfield manager having a meeting with referees' chief Mike Riley this week.

Liverpool had the luxury of a full week to prepare for the game after failing to qualify for Europe last season.

"I don't know if it will be beneficial or detrimental to us not being in Europe," Dalglish said. "It's a long time since this club has been out of Europe so we'll have to wait and see what happens. Only time will tell."

Dalglish is still wary of the threat posed by Spurs, adding: "They have had a game but he (Redknapp) only took one player who played last Saturday, so they will still be at their strongest on Sunday.

"Harry has done a fantastic job there. They are a very exciting and attacking team. They had a fantastic year last season when they did well in the Champions League.

"Maybe getting into the Champions League acted against them last season in trying to get back in this year. They finished fifth which was just one spot away.

"We know what Spurs and Harry stand for. We know what type of game we will be in for and we know it will be a good game."