Graphic: weekend tactical analysis

Tottenham Hotspur climbed out of the relegation zone yesterday with a hard-fought victory against a Blackburn Rovers team who played more than half the match with ten men. Martin Olsson saw red after 38 minutes when he caught Aaron Lennon from behind, his second bookable offence, and as the Swedish defender headed for the tunnel, it was difficult not to feel sorry for him because he had been turned inside out by Lennon.

The 21-year-old Tottenham winger has failed to win a place in any of Fabio Capello’s squads, but this performance of skill and speed was a reminder that he deserves to be considered for England duty along with players such as Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Young.

“I love Lennon,” Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager, said. “If he carries on playing like that, he will be back in the England picture. There aren’t many better wingers than him in the country. He’s got electric pace and he’s very difficult to play against.”

Lennon caught Olsson in possession in the ninth minute and scampered away from him before cutting the ball back for Roman Pavlyuchenko to give Tottenham the lead with a right-foot strike from ten yards and he was on the receiving end of two crude challenges from the Swede in the 26th minute as Tottenham threatened to increase their advantage. Olsson escaped with one yellow card from Howard Webb, the referee, for his mistimed tackles, but his luck ran out soon after when he tried in vain to stop Lennon from racing away from him along the touchline.

“He’s absolutely devastated,” Paul Ince, the Blackburn Rovers manager, said. “It was just youthful exuberance and he was trying to rectify giving the goal away. He is a fantastic player and will learn from the experience.”

Olsson’s dismissal ended any realistic chance that Blackburn had of winning a Barclays Premier League match for the first time in two months as Ince was forced to replace Benni McCarthy with Danny Simpson at half-time and withdraw his players into a 4-4-1 formation. Blackburn had been adventurous and expansive in the first half, but after the interval it was a damage-limitation display that left Heurelho Gomes, the Tottenham goalkeeper, with virtually nothing to do.

Gomes complained this weekend that he has been making costly mistakes since his £7.8 million summer move from PSV Eindhoven because he is much busier in England than he was in the Netherlands - his comedy capers have already cost Tottenham at least four goals this season - but his second-half duties amounted to watching Paul Robinson, the goalkeeper whom he replaced, remind his former employers that they had allowed a very good player to slip through their grasp.

Redknapp will almost certainly seek to freshen his squad when the transfer window opens in January and the Tottenham manager hinted that he had already started looking for another goalkeeper. “It’s a possibility,” Redknapp said. “It’s going to be difficult because if I bring anyone in, they have to be a top player. It’s not easy to prise away good players from their clubs.”

Gomes performed one of his familiar juggling routines from a Blackberry corner in the fifth minute, but he settled down so well afterwards that some White Hart Lane wags were suggesting that he should get the man-of-the-match bottle of champagne for keeping only his third clean sheet in 18 appearances.

“It was very important that he kept a clean sheet,” Redknapp said. “We’ve been spending a lot of time with him and encouraging him and it wasn’t easy for him because the crowd were singing Robinson’s name.”

Robinson had to leave Tottenham to rebuild his reputation and regain his confidence. He tossed his gloves into the crowd after the final whistle. “Come back, Robbo,” one Tottenham supporter shouted. “All is forgiven.”

Tottenham (4-4-2): H Gomes 6 V Corluka 7 J Woodgate 8 L King 7 B Assou-Ekotto 7 D Bentley 6 J Jenas 6 T Huddlestone 7 A Lennon 8 R Pavlyuchenko 7 D Bent 6 Substitutes: F Campbell (for Pavlyuchenko, 73min), J O’Hara (for Bentley, 86). Not used: C Sánchez, G Bale, D Zokora, C Gunter, M Dawson. Next: Everton (h).

Blackburn (4-4-2): P Robinson 7 A Ooijer 7 C Samba 6 R Nelsen 6 M Olsson 3 B Emerton 6 K Andrews 5 A Mokoena 5 M G Pedersen 6 R Santa Cruz 5 B McCarthy 5 Substitutes: D Simpson 6 (for McCarthy, 46min), M Derbyshire 6 (for Emerton, 70) K Treacy (for Pedersen, 80). Not used: J Brown, Tugay Kerimoglu, R Fowler, K Treacy, J Roberts. Next: Portsmouth (a).

Referee H Webb Attendance 35,903