The 29-year-old again found himself warming the bench for the Barclays Premier League clash against Blackburn on Saturday, as Russian Roman Pavlyuchenko continued his fine form with a brace in the 3-1 victory which kept Spurs in the top four.

Crouch, though, remains one of the most consistent performers with England, taking his tally to 20 goals from 37 caps when he scored twice against Egypt at Wembley recently.

Redknapp, who also worked with the 6ft 7ins forward at Southampton and Portsmouth, believes Crouch has to be a key member of Fabio Capello's squad for South Africa.

"Crouch has to go to the World Cup," the Tottenham manager said.

"He seems to score every time he plays for England, he leads the line well, holds the ball up and wins every header.

"He gives you something completely different when games are tight.

"You can play long balls to him, he will win headers and (help) other players to get around the second ball and open packed defences.

"I think both he and (Spurs team-mate) Jermain Defoe will go to the World Cup."

The prognosis for Spurs winger Aaron Lennon, though, is not so positive, as Redknapp revealed the 22-year-old was still some way off recovering from a groin problem.