Furious Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp might be forced to discipline tricky wideman Aaron Lennon after the England international left the field of play against the manager's wishes in Spurs' 0-1 home defeat to Stoke.

With the game delicately poised at 0-0 with just 14 minutes left, the former Leeds United man decided enough was enough and hauled himself off the pitch, complaining of an ankle injury.

This riled Redknapp who had expressly instructed the 22-year-old to remain on the field of play, with Spurs having used up all three of their substitutes.

Consequently, Stoke went on to grab a dramatic late winner, and a fuming 'arry was said to have berated Lennon for his defiant actions on the pitch, in the aftermath of the shock home defeat.

Three points would have put Spurs on level pegging with second-placed Manchester United, who travel to Liverpool today. But a failure to get any sort of return from the game means that they can now slip to fourth, behind fierce rivals Arsenal, should The Gunners win against West Ham at Upton Park.

Redknapp explained just what had gone on in his post game press conference, and revealed that they did not yet know just what is wrong with Lennon's ankle.

"I was hoping he could stay on but he couldn't and suddenly we were down to 10 men. We're not sure what the problem is. He just said he couldn't carry on and that was that."

"I didn't give him a nudge - I just said to him we would only have 10 men and could he play on, but he said his ankle was too sore," he added.