Tottenham 5 Fulham 1: Ledley King made his long-awaited comeback from injury as Tottenham plunged 10-man Fulham into further relegation trouble with a rout at White Hart Lane.

King has been beset by injuries during the last 18 months — it was St Stephen's Day last year that he picked up a foot problem and he has had knee surgery and a
thigh strain since.

Statistics point to Spurs having a greater chance of victory with their skipper in the team — and defeat did not look a prospect after Robbie Keane and Tom Huddlestone put them ahead before the break.

Keane was the cast as the villain on Saturday for missing a penalty against ivals Arsenal but he added another goal in the second half after Clint Dempsey had pulled one back.

Huddlestone and Jermain Defoe scored to complete the scoring and Moritz Volz was dismissed for Fulham.

But for all for the attacking power of Spurs — it was King in defence that was the talk of north London.

Former Spurs boss Martin Jol bemoaned the fact he was denied King's services for a significant time of his reign.

With a turn in results since Juande Ramos took, King's first appearance of the season offered a late Christmas present for Spurs fans.

He was able to settle back into the defence as Fulham struggled to get behind the hosts — when they did King executed two perfectly-timed tackles on Dempsey in the first half to announce his comeback.

There were a couple of shaky moments but King will probably not have an easier afternoon for the rest of the season.