Lampard has been a regular starter for Chelsea for most of the last decade, but has had to play a largely peripheral role recently, starting three of the last six games from the bench. The 33-year-old returned to the Chelsea starting line-up last weekend at Wigan, but the Blues' failure to beat Roberto Martinez's strugglers may tempt Andre Villas-Boas to make changes in midfield again. Redknapp is Lampard's uncle and knows him well having seen the midfielder come through the ranks at West Ham. The Tottenham boss thinks Lampard is by no means a spent force and hopes he will be omitted from the Blues' team for Thursday night's clash. "I hope he isn't playing," Redknapp said. "He is a fantastic player so if he is not playing I wouldn't be too disappointed. "Look at his record - he scores nearly 20 goals a year every year. "That's incredible for a midfielder." Villas-Boas has struggled to bring success to Chelsea while attempting to lower the average age of his squad in his rebuilding mission at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are nine points off the top off the top of the Premier League and will do little to stop claims Tottenham are now the capital's best team if they lose on Thursday. Despite playing one less game than their rivals, Spurs have opened up a five-point gap over Arsenal and will have the same advantage over Chelsea if they win on Thursday night. Redknapp denies this means his team are favourites to win Thursday's derby, however. "I wouldn't say we are favourites," Redknapp said. "It looks like an even game and we were not saying that a few years ago. We have come a long way." Villas-Boas has come in for criticism for his tactics recently, but fears that the 34-year-old could be sacked in his first season eased after he took his team on a four-match unbeaten run. Redknapp thinks his problems are small fry compared to that of under-pressure Blackburn boss Steve Kean and has no doubt that Chelsea will be challenging for the title come the end of the season. "Chelsea will be there at the end of the season going for trophies," Redknapp said. "Villas-Boas' situation is different to that of someone like Steve Kean. The Chelsea fans are not abusing him non-stop are they? He has good players. They are bang up there where they always are and I am sure he will do a great job there. "They have fantastic players, mentally strong players who have been there and won it all." Redknapp's team go in to the match as marginal favourites having lost just once in their last 13 league games. Their last defeat at White Hart Lane came in August and they have looked almost unplayable at home for the majority of the season. The excellent form of Gareth Bale has played a huge part in helping propel Spurs up to third in the league, but the Welshman missed Sunday's game against Sunderland with a sprained ankle and is a major doubt for Thursday. "He (Bale) is struggling at the moment. He hasn't been able to train so he is very doubtful," Redknapp said. Captain Ledley King is also a doubt as he struggles to play more than one game a week due to his chronic knee injury. Emmanuel Adebayor should overcome a minor foot injury and start, but there is a big question mark over the fitness of Jermain Defoe, who sat out Sunday's game with a hamstring complaint. "Jermain thinks he has a chance but the physio doesn't," Redknapp added. "The physio feels if we take a chance on him he could tear it quite badly and then it's a six-week job. We don't need that really, but he loves training and playing."
