Spurs assistant manager Kevin Bond took charge of Thursday's 1-0 defeat in Russia while Harry Redknapp stayed in London to recover from a heart procedure to unblock two coronary arteries. Redknapp, who is thought to have watched the game from his Dorset home, will not have been pleased with his team's performance as they were torn apart by two-time Russian champions Rubin in a one-sided match, which would have turned into a real hiding had it not been for an excellent performance from Cudicini. The Italian, 38, made a string of excellent saves at the Tsentralnyi Stadion and drew high praise from Bond afterwards, but he will be relegated to the bench again this weekend. Bond will take charge of the team at Craven Cottage again on Sunday and he has insisted that Friedel will return in goal for the London derby to extend his Premier League record for consecutive appearances to 285, in spite of Cudicini's outstanding display in Kazan. "At the moment, the way things are going for Brad, the shirt is his to lose. He is playing really well for us in the league and he has played so many consecutive matches," Bond said. "We are not playing him because of that run of consecutive games, but because he has showed that level of consistency to warrant playing in the league." Like Cudicini, Sebastien Bassong is likely to find himself among the substitutes on Sunday after his blunder cost Spurs the game. The centre-half carelessly hacked down Alexander Ryazantsev after losing control of the ball while trying to dribble out of his own box, and Bebras Natcho dispatched the resulting free-kick to give Rubin the win that knocked Tottenham into third in Europa League Group A. The Cameroon defender started the season well down the pecking order but began two consecutive matches last month before being dropped for Sunday's game against QPR after Ledley King returned to fitness. Bassong gave an interview yesterday in which he expressed his frustration at being dropped, adding that he was likely to seek a move away from White Hart Lane in January. QPR are thought to be lining up another move for the 25-year-old after narrowly missing out on his signature this summer and he admitted today he will gladly walk out of Tottenham in January if he is given the chance to leave. "We all know the situation at Spurs. If I get a chance to go I will go," Bassong said. "If the manager will play me, I will stay. But if he does not, I will go. I don't know where. For now I can't talk about which club. When the time comes I think January will be a good time to talk about it. "Mentally I thought I was going to QPR in the summer. It didn't happen, but something can happen." Redknapp left hospital 24 hours after undergoing his heart procedure and was keen to return to work today, but he admitted this morning he intends to leave Bond in charge for the next two weeks and return after the international break. Rested stars Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Rafael Van der Vaart and Scott Parker will return to the Spurs team on Sunday as they look to keep up their push for a top-four place by extending their unbeaten run to eight games. William Gallas and Steven Pienaar are also in contention after recovering from their respective calf and groin injuries. Pienaar faces tough competition in midfield, but he is desperate to play on Sunday having played his first competitive game in six months yesterday. "I got through it well and that was important for me. It was my first 90 minutes for a while I've been out for a good few months and now I'm excited to get back out and play," the South African said.
