It will Spur Bent on

Gary Stevens: concerned

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Harry Redknapp must bolster his striking options if Tottenham are to pull clear of the Premier League drop zone, according to Gary Stevens.

Spurs moved off the bottom of the table on Sunday by drawing 1-1 with Redknapp's former club Portsmouth but the London side remain the joint-lowest scorers at home this season.

Roman Pavlyuchenko was carried off with an ankle injury in the clash before Darren Bent missed a glorious opportunity to earn Spurs all three points, prompting Redknapp to joke that his wife could have scored the chance.

"It's a howler," agreed former Spurs and Pompey defender Stevens. "Darren Bent knows he should have scored. Arguably he's got too much time, it's far too easy. Should Harry have said (what he did)? Of course he should have! My wife would have scored as well.

"Harry's very clever; he's got his point over but he's also added an element of humour there so it can be laughed off and it will be. There will be some jokes on the training park; Darren Bent has missed chances in the past and he'll miss them in the future.

"All strikers have to get in there and miss them before they score them. I still think Darren Bent will play a part at Tottenham and he will score goals for them.

"He (Redknapp) is looking at strikers anyway. He's reported to be looking at Craig Bellamy, that doesn't look like it's going to happen. I think top sides want four strikers so you could argue Spurs are a little bit light in that department.

"Hopefully from Tottenham's view the Pavlyuchenko injury is no more than a bump rather than a twist or a sprain. Once you get ligaments involved, you have muscle injuries they take longer (to heal) than just a blow. Hopefully, although it doesn't look good it is not going to be anything like medium-term let alone long-term."

Relieved

Just six points separate Hull in ninth spot and bottom of the table West Brom in the tightest Premier League season on record so Stevens feels both Spurs and Pompey will be relieved to take a least a point out of the White Hart Lane clash.

"When you look at how tight it is down the bottom, of course a point is good enough. It lifted Tottenham off the bottom of the table and out of the drop zone," he reflected.

"All of these points are important and when you consider there is only six points between ninth place and the bottom of the table draws are very important."

The draw did come at a cost for Spurs, though, after Ledley King limped off with hamstring injury.

"It's a huge loss," admitted Stevens. He's had far too many injuries. A fit Ledley King is a king-pin for Tottenham and an England international.

"It's a major problem for him; I have great sympathy for him. It's the one thing that all players nearly need. Without their fitness they can't perform. It's a loss to football that we haven't seen as much of Ledley King as we should have done.

"You always hope a player is going to burst through that injury problem, that difficult spell but that's been going on for years and years. It's almost a case of the medical department at the club need to advise Harry and make some sort of judgement on it."