HARRYBAO CUP

Defoe relishing reunion with ex-boss Redknapp and boasts: I’ll score yet another hat-trick

Birmingham v Bournemouth, 7.45pm

JERMAIN DEFOE will be handed the chance to take out his frustration on his former mentor Harry Redknapp tonight.

The England striker has been forced to watch Bournemouth’s false start in the Premier League – two defeats, no goals – from the bench, with Cherries boss Eddie Howe claiming Defoe’s fitness is not yet up to speed.

But the 34-year-old will be on from the first whistle against Redknapp’s Birmingham City in the Carabao Cup second round, threatening to repeat the hattrick he bagged for Spurs at ‘Arry’s expense 13 years ago.

Asked if he has something special in store for his old boss at West Ham, Portsmouth and Tottenham, Defoe grinned: “Yes, I’ll score a hat-trick – and I’ve done that to him before, playing for Tottenham against Southampton in 2004-05.

“He looked at me and I said: ‘Well, H, you gave me the opportunity from day one’ so it was his fault, wasn’t it? He was the one who believed in me from the start. When I was about 16, I walked into West Ham and it was almost like he got me in the first team as soon as possible.

“Later on, every club he went to, he tried to sign me – and nine times out of 10 it came off.”

Redknapp recalled: “I loaned him to Bournemouth when Mel Machin and Sean O’Driscoll were in charge. They rang and said: ‘Harry, have you got anybody you could loan us because we look like getting relegated?’

“I said: ‘I’ve got a kid here you could have, he’s 17.’ They said: ‘No, you know this league, we need a man. How big is he?’

“I said: ‘He’s 5ft 6in!’ They said: ‘5ft 6in and 17, no thanks!’

“I said: ‘I tell you what, I’ll send him down there for a week, he can train with you, and if you want him you can loan him.’

“On Monday my phone rang and Mel said: ‘Harry, can we loan him for the season? We had a practice match this morning and he got five goals!’”