The Tottenham manager returns to Fratton Park tomorrow night for the first time since his move to White Hart Lane 12 months ago.

He is likely to receive a volatile reception from sections of the Portsmouth supporters.

But Redknapp, who won the FA Cup with Portsmouth last year, believes he has no case to answer.

Redknapp said: "Without what I did financially they wouldn't be there. I bought players and sold them for massive profits.

"The wages they earned was nothing to do with me. I have no input into that.

"Lassana Diarra cost £7.5million including his wages and they got £22million for him. All I did was make them money. If they hadn't had such an astute manager who was so good in the transfer market they would have been skint.

"There was no money coming in from the owner. The only thing which kept them going was the buying and selling of players.

"Everyone goes on about Pompey being £35million or £40million in debt but that has nothing to do with me. That's to do with the people who handle the finances at the club."

Redknapp has faced criticism for assembling a star-studded, high-earning line-up on the south coast which included Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe, who he then took to Tottenham. Niko Kranjkar will also return to his former club after being snapped up by Redknapp in the transfer window.

Yet Redknapp said: "If you can't afford a player they shouldn't buy him, should they? I can't go to Daniel Levy (Tottenham's chairman) and say I want to sign Ronaldo. He'll say we can't afford him and that's the end of that.

"That's how football works. We pick the teams. We don't have any input into negotiations or wages. That's gone way out of football people's hands years and years ago."

Redknapp believes Portsmouth fans should remember when he arrived for his second spell the club were in disarray at the bottom of the Premier League.

He said: "Dejan Stefanovic (former Portsmouth captain) said to me in the first training session 'You must be mad gaffer coming back here. This is the worst team I've ever seen.' And after two days on the training pitch I realised he was right."

Redknapp, however, insists he has only affectionate feelings for the club and believes most Portsmouth fans feel the same way about him.

Redknapp's mansion on Sandbanks is currently being decorated by painters he describes as "Pompey-mad and he said: "They're not a bunch of nutters. They are all being labelled as a bunch of maniacs. They're not. They are good people.

"I loved my time there and they got £5million for me, which was crazy money but I knew when the owner called a taxi for me he was desperate for £5million, so I went. It happened quickly, overnight.

"But it wasn't easy to leave. I really needed some persuading. Twenty five minutes to work in the morning, it was perfect for me. Took me five and a quarter hours to get here yesterday."

Tottenham will start without midfielder Wilson Palacios, who was ordered by Honduras president Roberto Micheletti to attend the celebration reception after helping his country reach the World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over El Salvador in midweek.

Palacios will travel straight straight to the team hotel tomorrow morning but Redknapp said: "It is disappointing. He's a big loss to us. I can't start him in a game when he's travelled."

Palacios could be on the bench but central defender Ledley King looks set to return after coming through a practice match in midweek which also featured long-term injury victim Jonathan Woodgate, though the latter is still a week away from full fitness.

Croatian midfielder Luka Modric has suffered a setback following his broken leg and will receive further treatment after feeling tenderness while attempting to jog.