Harry Redknapp's comments on players asking to be excused from international duty were "mischievous" and an unwanted "grenade", according to Gordon Taylor,the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.

Redknapp's assertion that English players had asked him to help them pull out of national games while he was Tottenham manager has stirred up debate in the wake of England's World Cup exit.

Steven Gerrard, the captain of the national side, asked Redknapp to name the culprits, but his request was met with a refusal.

For Taylor, the issue is one England could do without as they pick up the pieces after their loss to Uruguay, and he feels Redknapp's comments were poorly timed.

"I know Harry, I admire Harry, and I don't know in what context he's said it, I'm perfectly happy to talk to him about it, he's a football man and it may have come from one particular player for some special reason," Taylor said. "It's a little bit mischievous to throw out grenades like that at the end of a World Cup disappointment. I think we all have to get focused and move on."

Taylor insists he does not know of any players to have asked not to be picked for duty and believes omissions are often the fault of club managers.