Harry salutes Defoe

Redknapp unstinting in his praise for goalscorer

Last updated: 29th March 2008

Jermain Defoe Emmerson Boyce Portsmouth v Wigan

Defoe: In the thick of things

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Harry Redknapp saluted Jermain Defoe's impact at Portsmouth after his two goals secured a 2-0 over Wigan.

The in-form striker was overlooked by England against France in midweek but gave Fabio Capello a timely reminder of his capabilities with a fine double.

Defoe has now scored eight times in seven appearances for Portsmouth and Redknapp insists he never had any doubts about just how prolific the player could be - given regular playing time.

"He's always scored goals. If you look at him, his record over the years has always been incredible," Redknapp told Sky Sports.

"I worked with him at 15 when I was at West Ham. You'd go and watch him and invariably he would score.

"I loaned him to Bournemouth and he scored ten goals in ten games when he was just 17.

"I said when I signed him here that if he plays regularly he'll be 20 goals guaranteed."

Wigan praise

The Fratton Park clash was far from one-way traffic though, and Redknapp was quick to praise the tenacity shown by Wigan, who hit the crossbar and missed a penalty after falling behind to Defoe's opener.

"It was a tough game, they've come here and scrapped and had a real go.

"Especially at half-time when Steve Bruce has seen the half-time results. He must have looked at those and seen Bolton winning (they went on to lose to Arsenal), you could see that in the second half when he really went for it.

"They had six strikers on, didn't they? It was important that we had to win lots of balls.

"We worked hard and no question, it was a good result for us."