"The defensive record here has been incredible. At times you win 1-0 and that's what good teams do - no game is easy and you are not always going to score three or four goals."

The first part of Harry Redknapp's remark following the 1-0 victory over Newcastle is certainly accurate, reflecting the fact that Spurs' ascent up the table has largely been built on a solid back four. His observation is also borne out by the statistics. Spurs have the second best home defensive record in the league (after Liverpool) and will set a new club record if they can maintain clean sheets in the games against West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City. With just those two home fixtures remaining, the team has conceded only nine goals to date at White Hart Lane, in marked contrast to last season when the opposition managed a total of 34.

There is, however, a flip side to this achievement. In 2007/08, with Berbatov and Keane up front, Spurs banged in 46 goals at home. Unless West Brom and Man. City are put to the sword, Spurs will not reach even half that figure by the end of the current campaign.

Does this seem like nitpicking criticism of a team that now lies ninth in the table, with only one defeat since January? Had Obafemi Martins managed to convert the best of Newcastle's few chances with only two minutes remaining, the answer would have to be a resounding no. And there is the fib in Harry’s quote. "Good teams" up against a side as poor and poorly organized as Newcastle do not win 1-0. With Spurs in almost total command, the game should have been over by half-time, and "three or four goals" should not have been too much to hope for.

It is not difficult to see where the problem lies. The industry and ability of the likes of Modric, Lennon and Palacios provide plenty of good chances. These chances are, however, routinely spurned by the strikers. Fans of Darren Bent - and he does have his supporters in the Spurs crowd - will argue that 11 league goals from 20 starts is a respectable total for a forward. Yet it is the ratio of chances created to converted - the old criticism leveled most notably against the much more prolific Andy Cole - that must be examined. When the excellent Alan Hutton provided a great cross in first half injury time, his expectation would surely have been that Bent would hit the target or at least come close. Not so. On the day, Bent's single, fortuitous goal was scant reward for his teammates' creativity.

In fairness, Robbie Keane put in another subdued performance and so it was not entirely predictable that it was Bent rather than the Irishman who would make way for Jermain Defoe with a quarter of an hour remaining. With an away game against title-chasing Man. Utd. up next, the manager could do worse than pair up Defoe and Pavlyuchenko, assuming that both are fit. Whomever he picks to play at Old Trafford, Harry may well find out that indeed "no game is easy."