Harry unhappy with Barton tackle

Harry Redknapp was unhappy with Joey Barton's challenge on Pedro Mendes.

Mendes was forced off with an Achilles problem after Barton caught the Portuguese ace with a late tackle.

Barton was booked for the offence, but Redknapp was angry with the challenge and he was sent to the stands in the second half after confronting referee Mike Dean about the incident.

Redknapp felt Barton was lucky to escape a red card and he hopes Mendes is not too badly injured.

"You get a yellow for that (Barton's tackle on Mendes) and Andy Cole gets a yellow for not walking over to the referee quickly enough," Redknapp told PremPlus.

"If you tell me both those incidents are worth the same punishment I'm a Dutchman.

"It was a fantastic goal from Pedro and for 35 minutes he was running the game. Unfortunately he got a bad tackle and when he went off it was a turning point for us.

"It looks like a badly gashed Achilles but we hope it's not too bad."

Redknapp was delighted to finally see his side pick up their first win of 2007.

"It's an important win for us," added Redknapp.

"The overall situation is incredible. Portsmouth with 41 points at this stage of the season, above teams like Manchester City, Newcastle and Aston Villa.

"If people are going to get disappointed when Portsmouth are seventh then I can't help them.

"What have we got to panic about? I think I could go on my holidays now with 41 points."