Wolves 2 Tottenham 0:THE PROSPECT of Spurs playing Champions League football next season is beginning to fade. Defeat by Wolves last night made it one win in six league games for Harry Redknapp's misfiring team, a run of games during which they have scored only three goals.

A goal from David Jones gave Wolves an unlikely 1-0 win at White Hart Lane in December, leading the manager Mick McCarthy to theorise before this match, perhaps a touch hopefully, that Spurs might be so intent on revenge it could actually work in the home team’s favour.

A more likely motivation for the visitors must surely have been that their failure to break down Aston Villa last Saturday allowed Liverpool to retake the coveted fourth position, not to mention making it only four wins from 13 matches against sides in the top 10.

Not surprisingly, Redknapp chose to shake things up, his five changes including leaving Peter Crouch, Vedran Corluka, Wilson Palacios and Luka Modric on the bench – Ledley King, unable to play two games in a week, was the other absentee – and pairing Jermain Defoe with Eidur Gudjohnsen up front. There was also another chance for David Bentley to impress.

The manner in which Bentley waltzed past Wolves’ left-back Stephen Ward in the opening minute, and was fouled in the process, suggested a productive evening might be ahead for the former England international. But Gareth Bale swung the free-kick beyond Marcus Hahenemann’s far post and Wolves began to apply themselves to the task of staying solid while pressurising Spurs into error.

Matt Jarvis saw his shot from a half-cleared corner inadvertently blocked, but Spurs should have opened the scoring when neat touches from Gudjohnsen and then Defoe put Nico Kranjcar clear in the Wolves area. As Hahnemann came out the Croatian shot hard and low, but the American got down quickly enough to divert the ball behind.

Though kept on the backfoot, when they broke Wolves did so with purpose. Sebastien Bassong’s mistimed attempt to play offside gave David Jones the chance to play Doyle into the Spurs’ penalty area, but Michael Dawson had the chance to slide in and block.

The warning went unheeded by the visitors. Two minutes later Jones got the ball 10 yards into the Spurs half, and was given the time to stroke a pass out to Jarvis on the left. Criminally, no Spurs player bothered to pick up Jones’ run into the penalty area, allowing him to arrive unhindered to meet the subsequent low cross and sweep it first time beyond Heurelho Gomes.

Now Spurs really did have to push forward and Jarvis, in particular, continued to benefit. Chasing a long ball, he was unlucky to be denied a penalty for what looked like a push by Dawson.

Redknapp’s half-time reaction was to send on Palacios for Jenas, but while his team looked slightly better balanced as a result, Wolves were looking increasingly comfortable at the back. Crouch replaced Gudjohnsen, but Hahnemann remained relatively untroubled.

When Redknapp sent on Modric for Kranjcar Wolves began to defend more deeply, but it was only with five minutes remaining that Bentley, running on to a pass from Palacios, finally put the ball into the net, but he had long since been flagged offside.

For Wolves, with Chelsea and Manchester United among their next three opponents, this first win in seven could not have been better timed.