Villa's McLeish fumes over sloppy defending

Manager Harry Redknapp insisted watching Tottenham was the "best medicine" as he celebrated his return from minor heart surgery with a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa.

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Two first-half goals from Emmanuel Adebayor lifted Spurs up to third in the Barclays Premier League as they amassed their eighth victory in nine matches.

Redknapp underwent an operation on a minor blockage in one of his arteries two weeks ago, but insisted he is back hungrier than ever.

"There were no nerves, I was just looking forward to the game. I feel better now than I did before. I couldn't feel better," he said.

"I've been feeling great for the last 10 days and have been looking forward to getting back.

"The doctor told me not to return for four to five weeks, but I didn't take an awful lot of notice of him.

"I enjoyed watching us play, I love the way we play football. It's the best medicine for me to watch the way we play."

Luka Modric stood out in a dominant display from Tottenham that placed Villa on the defensive for virtually the entire game.

Redknapp urged Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to reward Modric for his fine form after the Croatian's desired £40million move to Chelsea collapsed during the summer.

"Luka's a great boy. There isn't a nicer boy in football than Luka Modric," he said.

"It was difficult for him in the summer but he never once caused a problem. He hasn't got it in his body to cause anyone a problem.

"He came in every day, trained hard, shook my hand and would have a chat. A lot of pros in his position would have got themselves out of this club.

"If someone is offering you £150,000 per week they'd have caused trouble and would have been a nightmare.

"I'm sure the chairman will do a new deal and look after him. Hopefully that will happen.

"You've got to look after him, he's a top, top player. If he's worth £40million, then he must be worth decent wages.

"He has to be on good money because he's a fantastic player."

Villa were battered from start to finish with sloppy defending responsible for both of Adebayor's goals, forcing manager Alex McLeish condemn his side's frailties at the back.

"It's so frustrating that we should lose to such easy goals. We started so well - nearly scoring after 40 seconds," he said.

"We can't concede goals like that and expect to do well in the Premier League.

"It was a bad day at the office for a few of our players. They know that they owe the Villa fans and me a performance in the next game.

"Spurs are a fantastic team with a lot of pace and athleticism and great technical players.

"But you can't allow them to flourish the way we did."