NEC Nijmegen 0 Tottenham 1:HARRY REDKNAPP continues to pick up the pieces from the Juande Ramos regime with the minimum of fuss. This competition threatened to bring ignominy when Tottenham suffered defeat in Udinese last month but a second successive Uefa Cup victory means a place in the knock-out stages is now all but secured.

This was the seventh victory under Redknapp in nine matches. There were still 76 minutes remaining when Jamie O'Hara struck, but Spurs rarely looked troubled. O'Hara's goal came at the end of a flowing move that made light of the critical comments the NEC coach, Mario Been, had made beforehand. He labelled Spurs a "long-ball team" but there was nothing direct about the slick build-up on the left that saw David Bentley release Gareth Bale. The Wales international delivered a low cross into the area and, after Fraizer Campbell struck the crossbar from inside the six-yard box, O'Hara headed home.

NEC roused briefly but there was no penetration to complement patches of neat passing and when the Dutch team did breach the Spurs defence, Heurelho Gomes, Jonathan Woodgate and Chris Gunter all made valuable contributions. Gomes's stop was the most crucial, the Brazilian diving to his right to repel Moestafa El Kabir's first-time shot in the 23rd minute.

Gunter, reacting quickest to the rebound, ensured the danger passed. Thereafter Spurs were stretched on few occasions. "Once we got in front we looked comfortable," said Redknapp, who praised Gomes for his second successive clean sheet. "The 'keeper looked very assured with what he had to do."

The goalkeeping coach Perry Suckling has been working with Gomes and Redknapp has also drafted in the former Spurs goalkeeper Tony Parks to help out. "They've got him working in a more English style," Redknapp said. "Working him, bossing him, talking to him."

Redknapp is still fine-tuning, something that was evident against NEC, when he realised the diamond formation he had tried to implement in the first half was breaking down because Spurs were unable to retain possession after a bright start. Bentley, who had started behind the two strikers, was redeployed to the right and the switch came close to delivering instant reward when Darren Bent met his cross with a header only for Gabor Babos to tip over."Winning is a good habit," added the Spurs manager. "I think that six points should be plenty to be through."

NEC: Babos; Dani Fernandez, Wisgerhof, Zomer, El Akchaoui, Radomski, Sibum, Davids, Schone, Van Beukering, Kabir. Subs: Baart, Kivuvu, Pothuizen, Otten, Bouaouzan, Janssen, Tshibamba .

TOTTENHAM: Gomes, Gunter, Dawson, Woodgate, Bale, Bentley, Zokora, Huddlestone, O'Hara, Bent, Campbell. Subs: Cesar, Lennon, Assou-Ekotto, Bostock, Smith, Mason, Obika.

Referee: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (Spain)