TOTTENHAM boss Harry Redknapp admits he cannot fill his bench with senior players for the FA Cup quarterfinal against Fulham after Jermain Defoe returned from England duty with a hamstring complaint.

Defoe is rated as 50-50 for the game at Craven Cottage, with Ledley King already ruled out with a thigh injury and groin problems accounting for Aaron Lennon, David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas, while Tom Huddlestone has damaged ankle ligaments.

‘‘Jermain has had tight hamstrings, run down his legs like sciatica-type pain,’’ Redknapp said. ‘‘He felt it after the game at Wembley, he didn’t feel very good with it at all.

‘‘He felt his back was tight before the game and he’d been having treatment on the back of his hamstrings here, but they all seem to roll into one.

The physios will see if they can work their magic on him.’’ Redknapp upset the odds against Manchester United in the last eight of the competition two seasons ago and accepts it will require another backs-to-the-wall display to get past Roy Hodgson’s men, given his selection problems.

Younes Kaboul and Kyle Walker are cup-tied, so Andros Townsend and Jake Livermore have been recalled from loans to help with numbers.

‘‘It’s quite easy to pick the team at the moment because I think we’ve got about 12 fit players,’’ Redknapp said.

‘‘We’ll have to play people out of position but we’ve still got 11 very good players.’’ Jenas underwent an operation this week, while Huddlestone’s foot is in a protective boot and he needs another scan before it is known how long he will be out.

Lennon’s injury is also worrying as he has not played since December and a comeback date has not been set.

‘‘It’ll take a bit of time,’’ said Redknapp, assessing Lennon’s recovery.

Redknapp at least has his available strikers in top form.

Roman Pavlyuchenko has scored six in his last four appearances, while Peter Crouch came off the bench for England and scored twice against Egypt on Wednesday