Harry Redknapp admitted his Tottenham Hotspur side had blown a great chance to reach the semi-finals of the Carling Cup by producing a below-par display in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson fielded a young United side at Old Trafford, but they had little trouble holding onto their lead which had come courtesy of two first-half Darron Gibson goals.

Ferguson was able to rest Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher but United were still far too good for Spurs, who produced one of their worst displays of the season, to Redknapp's disappointment.

He said:"You're never going to get a better opportunity than we did to beat United.

"We've been playing so well recently but there was no atmosphere. It was played at a lethargic pace. We didn't make a tackle in the first half. It was like a practice match, it just never got going."

Assistant manager Kevin Bond added:"The longer the game went on, the worse we got. They were bad goals from our point of view. From then on we never gave Manchester United any problems at all.

"A one off? We certainly hope so. Up until this point all the lads have been fantastic. Hopefully this is a lesson and something that won't be repeated."

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