Defoe was a regular starter for the club last season, scoring 24 goals in the process, but he has only scored nine in 20 starts this term. The England man has suffered from injuries and a drastic loss of form that saw him go without a Barclays Premier League goal until March's 3-3 draw at Wolves.
The 28-year-old admitted this week in a televised interview that he had become "frustrated" at his lack of first-team action, leading to suggestions that he could leave White Hart Lane this summer. Redknapp explained why Defoe had found his opportunities limited: "He hasn't played well enough to play regularly, that's the top and bottom of it. There is no other reason," he said.
"No-one has more faith in him than I do. He is a fantastic player but his form this year has not been anywhere near it has been in the past.
"He has to let the football do the talking really on the pitch. If he does it on the pitch then I will pick him."
Redknapp also took umbrage with Defoe's claims that playing in the Europa League would be a "distraction" if Spurs finish above Liverpool to qualify for Europe's second club competition.
"He can have Thursdays off then," Redknapp joked.
"Maybe he is busy on Thursdays so we will have to organise ourselves around that one."
Spurs have been linked with a number of strikers recently and they also launched audacious bids to sign Sergio Aguero and Giuseppe Rossi in January.
Roman Pavlyuchenko, Peter Crouch and Defoe have all been poor in comparison to Rafael van der Vaart, who has notched 15 goals since his ?£8million move from Real Madrid.
Source: PA
Source: PA