Spurs manager Redknapp set to return in two weeks

Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp should be back in the dugout for the Premier League match at home to Aston Villa in just over two weeks after having minor heart surgery.

The 64-year-old Redknapp had hoped to return for Sunday's league game at London rivals Fulham but has heeded medical advice to rest and is set to watch the match on television instead.

"The manager is recuperating at home after having two stents inserted to unblock coronary arteries on Wednesday and will be missing from the dugout at Craven Cottage this weekend as he continues to recover," Spurs said in a statement on Friday.

Redknapp told the club website: "I am feeling a bit better and as soon as I am ready I will be back.

"I'll take it easy for now and do what the doctor tells me. If I do that then I won't have a problem," he added.

The former West Ham United, Portsmouth and Southampton manager told Friday's Sun newspaper he knew he was in trouble when he had chest pains while on a treadmill at his Dorset home.

"I had hardly got going when it went tight and I was struggling to breathe. As soon as that happens you know the best thing to do is stop immediately which I did," said Redknapp.

"I haven't had a heart attack. It was just the specialist told me the arteries needed doing now."

Speaking before Thursday's Europa League game, which Spurs lost 1-0 to Rubin Kazan in Russia, Redknapp said his doctor had told him to put his feet up "for the next couple of weeks".

"That's handy because after this weekend we have a break for international matches coming up anyway. After that I'll be back in at Tottenham and back on the training pitch."

Spurs, who have climbed to fifth in the Premier League after six wins in seven games, host Villa at White Hart Lane on Nov. 21.