Harry Redknapp admits he could bring back a posse of players for Monday's home clash to Watford - but one of them won't be Benoit Asssou-Ekotto.

The left-back was red carded for a 'rash' challenge that earned him a second yellow in the 1-0 defeat to Leicester, although Harry reckoned there were positives to be taken out of the reverse.

He said: "I thought we played well today. They've got lots of goals in them and we've struggled to score. It was a poor goal, poor defending - you don't let people run in behind you."

The defender he referred to was Assou-Ekotto, and things went from bad to worse for the on-loan Spurs player, with the manager having no problem with his subsequent dismissal.

"One of the lads reckons Benoit got the ball on the first one (yellow card)," said Harry. "The second was a rash challenge and he didn't need to make it, and when you're on a yellow you don't want to dive in like that. But the cards were being dished out just a bit one way today."

One of the pluses was a return for midfielder Niko Kranjcar, as the manager pointed out.

"Niko's first game back for a while and I thought he was excellent - the most creative on the pitch," said Redknapp.

The manager believes Yossi Benayoun's removal from the action at half time with a groin strain was a 'precaution', although he added the return of Joey Barton, Kevin Doyle and leading scorer Charlie Austin for the visit of the Hornets, was on the cards.