Aaron Lennon was not well enough to take the pitch on Tuesday night as Tottenham prepared for their Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
The lightening-fast winger had been ill leading up to the quarter-final first leg a the Santiago Bernabeu and needed to be replaced just minutes before kick-off after Redknapp enquired about his health.
Spurs went on to lose 4-0 with Lennon feeling like he was being made the scapegoat for the defeat but Redknapp said he made the call to protect Lennon and has made it clear that there is no problem with the England international as he was clearly not well enough to play in such a big game.
"Good, I've got no problems with Aaron whatsoever," Redknapp said.
"He wasn't well the other day, the kid wasn't well enough to play.
"I asked him two or three minutes before kick-off because I could see he was sitting there not looking particularly well and he said 'I've got no strength, no energy, but I will give it a go' I said 'do you think you are capable' and he said he might only last five or ten minutes.
"I couldn't let the kid go on the pitch if he had a virus and he went out and ran around the pitch and collapsed and something happened to the kid anyway.
"No-one wanted to play more than he did. He was desperate to play, but he wasn't well the kid - he was ill."
