Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp feels that leading Pompey to an FA Cup final justifies his decision to remain at the club.Redknapp became Newcastle's number one target following the departure of Sam Allardyce back in January, but they were ultimately unable to lure Redknapp away from the South Coast.

Since rejecting the advances of the Magpies, the former West Ham and Southampton manager has led his side to a Wembley cup final and sixth place in the Premier League table.

He is adamant that staying at Fratton Park was the right choice for him, and admits that even he is surprised by how well Pompey's season has progressed.

"I've certainly got no regrets about my decision," Redknapp said.

"If somebody had upset me here it might have been different.

"But I knew we had a tremendous squad at Portsmouth, a great place to come in and work, great fans. People were happy with me and I was happy with them.

"Now we are in an FA Cup final and chasing a possible fifth place in the table. If those two things come about I can't honestly say that next season or even beyond I can make it much better than that.

"To get to fifth and win the FA Cup. It would be very hard to beat next season. And if we finish up with that then I think I had probably better retire."

The success enjoyed by the club this season is made all the more remarkable by the fact that they almost dropped out of the top flight two years ago, and needed a dramatic end-of-season surge to avoid slipping into the Championship.

Redknapp was the main protagonist of that great escape, and insists that he always felt the club had the potential to become a major force in English football.

"We've had an amazing turnaround in the last few years but I've been saying for about 40 years that the game is really all about good players and we've been able to bring them in," he said.

"I'm proud of this lot. They are a pleasure to work with - there is not one disruptive influence, not one real moaner, not one you want to see out the door. There is a great spirit and it has got us through quite a few games this season again.

"In the summer I will try to add a few more to the ones we've got, especially if we are playing in the Uefa Cup, but whatever we achieve it is going to be hard to top beating relegation a couple of seasons ago - and hard to beat the feeling when we won the First Division championship a couple of years before that."

Redknapp welcomes Newcastle to Fratton Park on Saturday and is delighted to see his former suitors doing well again under the guidance of Kevin Keegan.

"I didn't want to see him struggle," he said.

"He's still a hero up there and, for me, a great choice.

"When he left he was a hero, too, but when I left here, also as a hero, I was a called a villain within two weeks.

"Newcastle are a fantastic club, everything there is massive and it is all there for Kevin.

"It depends how much they want to throw at it but after a sticky start he's got players like Mark Viduka and Michael Owen fully fit again and they've found a bit of form.

"We are not a great club in terms of stadium, training facilities and number of fans we can get in but this is where I'm happy."

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