Furious Harry Redknapp to read riot act to Tottenham's partying stars

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is set to punish players involved in a Christmas party organised behind his back last week and Robbie Keane's role as skipper could be under scrutiny.

Redknapp was furious to learn about reports of 16 of his squad travelling to Dublin days before he insisted they would not be allowed to celebrate excessively during the festive period.

The Spurs boss will wait until after this weekend's Barclays Premier League trip to Blackburn before deciding what action to take.

"It was wrong and it will be dealt with. Severely. It will be dealt with," Redknapp insisted.

"It's being dealt with internally and we'll keep it in-house. I will be dealing with it after the weekend. We've got a game to concentrate on - we'll sort the game out, then I'll sort them out. Believe you me, it will get sorted out.

"I'm not happy, I'd be lying if I said I was happy. I didn't know anything about the trip at all if I'm perfectly truthful but it's done now and will be dealt with on Monday morning."

Keane was said to have orchestrated the trip near to Dublin, so Redknapp is likely to take a dim view if that is the case.

Keane could find himself on the bench at Ewood Park as Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe combined well during the defeat of Manchester City on Wednesday.

Redknapp did select Keane for the defeat to Wolves - four days after the Christmas party.

"It was the Tuesday and didn't affect the result against Wolves, we worked our socks off, but it doesn't make it right," Redknapp added.

Redknapp has taken a strong anti-alcohol stance, particularly after Ledley King's arrest outside a London nightclub, and believes Christmas parties should not be on the agenda.

"They are my views on it," he said.

"They are more trouble than they are worth and it happens at every football club unfortunately. Every club has had problems with it."

The news of the party has overshadowed the way Spurs bounced back from defeat to Wolves with their performance against City, which Redknapp rated as their finest of the season.

Redknapp has also been boosted by King returning to training after a freak accident during a practice match that saw him injure his knee. The centre-back could play one of Spurs' two games over Christmas.

"He's a great player," Redknapp said. "We need him back and fit playing and he could play one game over Christmas."

Luka Modric, however, has suffered a setback in his recovery from a fractured fibula and has needed treatment on an ankle complaint, ruling him out of the Blackburn trip.

Redknapp is hoping to maintain Spurs' hopes of breaking into the Champions League.

He added: "Everyone has thrown silly points away. Had we not thrown away home games that we were not expected to lose, we could have been sitting there a couple of points off the top. It is that open.

"But Blackburn is not an easy game. They should have beaten Liverpool recently, I went to the game. Sam Allardyce is a good manager and they know what they are doing for sure."