Tottenham Hotspur 0 Blackburn Rovers 0 - Peter White's big match verdict

JEREMY Beadle might want to recruit the Tottenham backroom staff responsible for the content of the pre-match entertainment on White Hart Lane's giant video screen.

Roy Hodgson would be first in the queue to give them a reference.

For, if ever a team was inspired to defend well, it must have been Rovers as their warm-up was conducted to the background of the previous week's four goals put past them by Leeds.

Perhaps the idea of the video nasty was to give the home fans a laugh. If so it rebounded badly on Spurs who, for all their first-half pressure, simply couldn't find a way past a defence and goalkeeper who might have felt they had a point to prove.

Hodgson, honest enough to admit his team were lucky to survive a first-half shelling, revealed with a smile: "I am very grateful to the Tottenham people for showing us the Leeds goals and missing our three goals out!

"It certainly livened up the boys and reminded them that if you are not careful you can concede four goals. We didn't look like doing that today."

As Rovers headed back up the motorway, they had the look of condemned men who had not only received a reprieve but a full pardon to boot.

With the side producing their least creative performance of the season so far, it came down to how well they could defend against a Tottenham side who totally dominated the first 45 minutes, despite the absence of their attacking big guns such as Les Ferdinand, Chris Armstrong and Steffen Iversen. Two fabulous saves from Tim Flowers and a remarkable goal-line clearance by Patrick Valery, allied to other desperate measures, kept Spurs at bay when the home side's performance deserved at least a couple of goals.

In contrast, even when Valery was dismissed for a second yellow card 11 minutes from time, Rovers had regained so much of their composure that, with a timely substitution, it wasn't really a problem.

By then they had the measure of Tottenham's depleted attack.

Hodgson, however, must have been relieved to hear the half-time whistle so that he could regroup his players. Spurs, on the other hand, would have been doubly frustrated at failing to cash in when they had been so much on top.

Rovers' problems stemmed from two sources, their own inability to keep the ball and Tottenham's solo stars such as David Ginola and Jose Dominguez, who revelled in the freedom to run at defenders.

The pressure produced three yellow cards in the opening 21 minutes and there was always an inevitable feeling that one of the cautions might prove costly in the later stages.

It was, eventually, Valery who fell for the three-card trick by diving in on Dominguez, mis-timing his challenge and seeing a second yellow before red.

The biggest disappointment was the poverty of Rovers' attacking efforts.

Sutton worked manfully up front but the service to the strikers was often non-existent and Rovers continually put themselves under even more pressure before the break by failing to clear their lines decisively or carelessly conceding possession once they reached the midfield area.

The quality of attacking play that we have seen in previous games was non-existent. With Hodgson having lost Stuart Ripley and Kevin Gallacher, he used Lars Bohinen tucked in on the right side of midfield.

It took the Norwegian some time to adjust, though he had a much happier time in the second half, as did several players.

The stars were really all at the back and they certainly had plenty of opportunity to shine as Spurs shrugged off their own absentees to have a real go at Rovers.

They had by far the better of the opening quarter of an hour, looking sharper and more decisive than Rovers. They also had the outlets to take them forward in players like Ginola, Dominguez and Ruel Fox.

Seventeen minutes, however, had elapsed before Spurs got the better of the Rovers defence and, when David Howells looked a certain scorer with a shot speared towards the top corner, Tim Flowers took off to make a magnificent one-handed save.

We were still waiting for Rovers to make a really serious threat on the Spurs goal three minutes before half time when Flowers again distinguished himself.

This time, it was the diminutive Dominguez - looking like a modern-day Johnny Price - who struck for goal.

Flowers arched backwards and touched the ball over in style.

A minute later, Howells drove the ball past Flowers, after a corner had been helped on, and Rovers' luck seemed to have run out, until Valery - doing his job on the post - somehow cleared across goal and out for another corner. The second half saw Rovers looking much more comfortable and even managing one or two threats themselves.

Martin Dahlin could only hit a couple of half chances straight at Ian Walker, while Sutton blasted in a far post shot only for Sol Campbell to get his burly body in the way.

At the other end, Dominguez wasted a chance but, by and large, Stephane Henchoz and Colin Hendry had erected the No Entry signs down the middle.

That didn't change, even when Rovers were down to 10 men, and the longer it went the less the stalemate looked like being broken.

From the visitors' point of view it was a desperately poor spectacle but watching England boss Glenn Hoddle would have been reminded that Flowers has his passport ready for Italy and, even when he's not scoring, Sutton can still make a big contribution to the team.

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