Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe struck in either half to clinch a 2-1 triumph over Stoke yesterday.

It completed an impressive past week for the tired Blues, coming in addition to victory over Spurs and an aggregate win against Vitoria Guimaraes.

They have now seen off a gruelling schedule of seven matches in 23 days to lift themselves into seventh in the Premier League, and the group stages of the UEFA Cup.

>>> Join us live for the UEFA Cup draw from 10.30am on Tuesday. Set up a reminder by clicking here.

Such has been the intensity of their fixture programme, Redknapp admitted even he had his concerns.

But his players dug in to produce a superb victory over Stoke with a performance that did both him and the fans proud.

He said: 'It's been a great week, they've been three fantastic results.
'I was worried about a few of them but I took the chance and played most of them that played the other night.

'Big Sol turned in a great performance. I thought he was absolutely brilliant.

'He was up for it again. He led from the front.

'When you are a big lad like he is and you are 34 it can take time to recover.

'That game the other night took an awful lot out of the players. We didn't get back to the hotel until gone 2.30am.

'So for them to come back like they did yesterday was great. It showed terrific character.

'We could have scored five or six really. We deserved to.

'It's down to good team spirit. Everybody is together, they are good pros really.

'They've all worked hard and we've got to keep it going. Every point is so vital in the Premier League this year.'

>>> Burton's Banter - Pompey defeat the anti-football. Click here to read our blog.

Yesterday's victory arrived on the back of a gruelling extra-time aggregate win over Vitoria which ran into a second day. Not that it seemed to affect the players.

Redknapp added: 'The energy levels of people like Armand Traore are fantastic, especially when you think he ran the other night for two hours.

'I said to him in Portugal "how do you feel?", he said "I feel tired". I said "how do you think their right-back feels?".

'I said the same yesterday at half time "how do you think Andy Griffin is feeling every time you get the ball and run at him?".

'He wants you to pass it, don't pass it, run it every time you get it, run it, run it.

'Andy's a terrific player but you've got your hands full when you've got kids with so much energy coming at you.'

Never miss a Portsmouth FC story... Get them sent straight to your e-mail inbox.... click here to subscribe.