Danny Mills lurks behind Tottenham midfielder Simon Davies at the Lane (ShaunBotterill/Allsport)

Indeed, manager David O'Leary admitted last night that the club has entered the InterToto Cup as an insurance policy to increase their chances of reaching the UEFA Cup.

Norway striker Iversen's 45th goal on his 150th appearance left O'Leary looking at an apparently unbridgeable gap to fourth place in the table, which would take them into the Champions League.

O'Leary said: 'You can't say we won't make it while it is still mathematically possible, but we've made it very hard for ourselves. We came into this weekend looking for six points and we have taken none. I couldn't believe we were two goals down at half-time.'

They were caught by two sucker punches, although few central defenders could have climbed as high as Iversen did to head Spurs ahead after 10 minutes.

Tottenham's second was a scrambled affair. A long throw from Matthew Etherington in the 29th minute was flicked on by Dean Richards to Simon Davies. His shot was blocked by Jonathan Woodgate but Teddy Sheringham prodded the ball home.

After a half-time roasting from O'Leary, Mark Viduka scored a wonderful individual goal in the 52nd minute.

Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle said: 'We were very bright and clinical with our finishing in the first half. In the second we dug in deep, worked hard and kept solid.'