A last-minute horror show for Redknapp

As Tottenham suffered a late lapse to loosen their grip on fourth place at Birmingham, their manager Harry Redknapp did not mince his words.

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BIRMINGHAM // As Tottenham suffered a late lapse to loosen their grip on fourth place, their manager Harry Redknapp did not mince his words. He blamed "horrendous" defending for Liam Ridgewell's leveller in the second minute of injury time. The Birmingham left-back had endured a torrid afternoon against David Bentley, but moments after the Spurs winger had been taken off to a deserved ovation, he found himself unmarked at the back post to stab home his first goal since October.

It infuriated Redknapp, whose side are now just a point clear of Liverpool. Jermain Defoe's first goal in five games looked to have secured victory as he said: "Until we scored they were never in the game. We defended poorly for their goal. It was horrendous." Redknapp's mood was not helped by news that Stoke City had come in late to sign Asmir Begovic after Spurs had agreed a double deal with Portsmouth for the goalkeeper and defender Younes Kaboul, who has joined his former club.

"The chairman had done a double deal," he said. "I wanted a back-up keeper, but Stoke have offered him chance to be the No 1. That's football, though." At least David Bentley's industrious and inventive performance lifted the Spurs spirits. With Aaron Lennon expected to undergo a hernia operation, Bentley has been gifted another chance to show why he cost the club £15 million (Dh90m) and earned an England cap.

He scored one and had a hand in the other in the 2-0 win against Fulham in midweek - only his second start this season. And he followed it up impressiv-ely yesterday to suggest he might still have a future at the club. Redknapp added: "He's here and he's got lots of ability, when he plays he's done OK." As early as the eighth minute, Bentley engineered a chance for Luka Modric, who shot wide. These two provided the artistry and Wilson Palacios the aggression, but chances were at a premium at both ends.

Heurelho Gomes was grateful when Chucho Benitez fired straight at him after the Ecuadorean had cleverly turned Michael Dawson on the edge of the box. Bentley then forced Joe Hart into a fine save, unleashing a fierce effort that was zooming inside the near post. Defoe came alive in the second half. A brilliant first touch from a Modric pass took him into space, but the ball ran towards Peter Crouch, who should have used his left foot instead of his right to shoot as the ball squirmed wide.

Birmingham's impressive campaign has been built around their defence and they were in no mood to capsize like they did at Stamford Bridge in midweek when their 15-match unbeaten run came to a crashing end. But they were denied a 10th clean sheet when Defoe struck in the 69th minute. Gareth Bale sent over a dangerous cross from the left, Crouch lived up to his name as he bent his knees and flicked the ball on for his strike partner to net with aplomb.

It was a shame Benitez could not match that calmness at the other end when he beat the offside trap, but his final effort struck the defiant Dawson. It is no wonder McLeish is looking to bring in a striker, although a deal for Spurs' Russian frontman Roman Pavlyuchenko is off. "It looks like we could not get the trophy signing, but we might get a loan trophy signing with a view to a permanent deal. I'm not bringing in someone I don't know," McLeish said of losing out on the Russian. "I think our strikers will get goals, but they won't finish in the upper reaches of the scoring charts."

The Scot was relieved with the point. It made up for Lennon's last-minute winner at White Hart Lane against them earlier in the season and he added: "I know how badly we felt after that and Harry will be feeling the way I felt that day. Overall our quality was a bit down, but our will to win and perseverance was there." sports@thenational.ae