Sebastien Bassong has apologised for the error which led to Tottenham failing to deliver the Europa League win over Rubin Kazan which would have lifted the spirits of ailing manager Harry Redknapp.

Redknapp was left at his Dorset home over 2,000 miles away from Kazan, where his side went down 1-0 thanks to a 55th minute free-kick from Bibras Natkho, after undergoing a procedure to unblock two coronary arteries on Wednesday.

Bassong was the man who was at fault for the goal. The Cameroon defender tried to dribble out of his own box, but lost control of the ball and hacked down Alexander Ryazantsev to give away the free-kick which Natkho scored. After the match, he said: "What can I say? I told the lads: 'Sorry, I should have cleared it. I'm sorry'."

Had it not been for an excellent performance from Carlo Cudicini in goal, Rubin could have bagged at least five goals on what was a chilly night in the Russian city over 450 miles east of Moscow.

Bassong added: "It's simple. I should have cleared the ball and I took an extra touch, an extra bad touch. I didn't see him coming and when I found out it was too late because I had a bad touch. I was praying it wouldn't be a goal but it was."

Redknapp, who picked the team before they made the five-hour journey from London without him, played youngsters Andros Townsend, Ryan Fredericks and Tom Carroll, but also included internationals like Steven Pienaar, Jermain Defoe and William Gallas.

But despite their superior experience and quality, the team failed to find their rhythm throughout and could not even muster a shot on target. At the other end, Cudicini was excellent, with the best of his many saves coming just before the half hour when he diverted Natkho's blistering effort over the bar.

Redknapp's assistant Kevin Bond was delighted with the 38-year-old's performance.

"Carlo pulled off one save in particular in the first half and a couple of other excellent saves for us and that is what he knew he was capable of," Bond said.

Redknapp was released from hospital on Thursday afternoon and has vowed to be back at work soon, possibly even for Sunday's Barclays Premier League game at Fulham.