Harry Redknapp: QPR move was the making of Andros Townsend

Harry Redknapp says Andros Townsend’s loan move to Queens Park Rangers proved the inspiration behind Tottenham Hotspur winger’s excellent form.

Townsend netted his first England goal on his debut in a 4-1 win against Montenegro on Friday as he continued his excellent start to the season for club and country.

The 22-year-old midfielder scored two goals in 12 Premier League appearances for the Hoops after he moved to Loftus Road on a short-term loan from Spurs in January 2012.

And Townsend’s former QPR and Tottenham boss Redknapp reckons the Spurs man’s spell at the west London side proved integral to helping him take the next step in his career.

“He was fantastic for us in the time he was at Rangers,” Redknapp told the Sunday Mirror. “I think it was the making of him.

“He showed that he get the better of a number of Premier League defences. I also decided to switch him. He was always on the left but I decided to play him on the right and he made an even bigger impact.

“If we had stayed up, I would have tried to sign him on a full-time basis, for sure.”

“Yes, I let him go on loan a lot [while I was Spurs boss] but that was because I had Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon as my regular wide players at Tottenham,” he argued. “I took Andros to Europa League matches but he wanted to be playing on a regular basis.

“There was nothing wrong with his character or anything like that. The opposite, in fact. Tim Sherwood had a word for him when he was taking the younger players. Tim called him ‘relentless’ and that just about sums him up.

“Andros was relentless in his ambition to make it. The loan deals were good for him. It showed him football from another view.

“That he has done well for Tottenham and now England is no shock to me. He has so much talent and a brilliant attitude.”