Alan Shearer said that he wished Newcastle United’s next game — against Portsmouth — was scheduled for today, so keen is he to discover the key to delivering a victory for his team. Yesterday’s defeat altered nothing, he argued. He knew he had to beat Portsmouth at St James’ Park next Monday “and nothing has changed”. But something has changed. The nights are getting warmer and Newcastle are even more firmly embedded in the relegation zone than they were two days ago.

Tottenham Hotspur had failed to beat Newcastle in their previous six league meetings but if that was part of Shearer’s pre-match team-talk, it did not show. The visiting team were hesitant, the home side full of verve, the heavens full of cruel parallels. Tottenham, like Newcastle, are a big club that achieve too little. Tottenham, like Newcastle, looked to Harry Redknapp to change their fortunes. Tottenham, like Newcastle, have stared relegation in the face this season. Redknapp chose Spurs, however, and has guided the club away from peril.

Tottenham are a Kafka-esque sort of club. They strive towards a European place, the very thing they despaired of possessing earlier this season. “It would be a great achievement now,” Redknapp said. It was a serious annoyance back in February however when Redknapp was juggling relegation, a Carling Cup final and the Uefa Cup. But life is simpler at White Hart Lane these days.

A late surge towards Europe must look so decadent in the eyes of the Newcastle faithful. Their club have five games left in which to avert disaster and that must have seemed an unlikely outcome on the evidence of the team’s first-half performance, although Shearer brought on Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins in the second half, who at least created chances and made Newcastle more of a handful.

At one point Shearer thought he had lost Martins. The Nigeria forward had ducked, behind White Hart Lane’s high-backed seats, to fiddle with his boots, but given the curious case of the player’s alleged lie-in the previous weekend, nobody could blame Shearer for being concerned. Indeed, Martins, upon his arrival from the bench, gave the Spurs defence their most perturbing moments.

“We are certainly a bigger threat with those \ on the pitch than without them so it’s something we can work on,” Shearer said. “If we can keep them fit in the week and get a good week’s training — then we face Portsmouth and it’s a game we need to win but we knew that before.” Shearer also has to find a way to convince his players to start games the way they finish them.

“I’ve just said to them, ‘I’m very pleased with the second half but give me an explanation why there’s no urgency like that from minute one,’ ” Shearer said. “We have our own ideas, our own theory as to why, but we have to start games in the first minute like we finish them in the last 30 minutes. That’s what we’re hoping for. That hasn’t materialised, particularly in the first half today.”

In the 24th minute Spurs took the lead, Shearer narrowed his eyes and continued chewing his gum. A through ball from Luka Modric was deflected inside the penalty area by Sébastien Bassong into the path of Darren Bent. Steve Harper’s partial save was not good enough and the ball rebounded back into the path of Tottenham’s leading scorer.

Newcastle were a mess but when Michael Dawson was carried off on a stretcher ten minutes later with an ankle injury it offered an opportunity for a meeting and Shearer and Iain Dowie, his assistant, abandoned their patently useless formation of three at the back in favour of a back four. There was little immediate discernible difference and Bent almost doubled his tally with a close-range header that floated over Harper’s crossbar.

The half-time team-talk was better and Newcastle improved. Martins was penalised for a handball that meant his subsequent shot past Heurelho Gomes was disallowed and in the 75th minute Martins produced a shot on the turn, which was tame but adventurous enough for the Shearer and Dowie combo to appear distraught at how close they might have come to an equaliser. Martins was also slightly unfortunate that he was not awarded a penalty when Jonathan Woodgate slid into him.

The defeat, then, was tinged with hope. “Effort-wise I’ve got no complaints,” Shearer said. “You’ve seen the urgency, you’ve seen spark and belief that they can pass it around. I want to see that for 90 minutes. Then we’ll have the chance of taking three points instead of one or none. I still believe we have got enough. There are so many emotions: you’re up, you’re down, I can’t describe it, but there’s a million things going through your head. I’m enjoying the battle but I’d be enjoying it a lot more if we got some points.”

Redknapp opted not to give his career over to Newcastle but yesterday he gave them an optimistic appraisal. “They’re a terrific club and 55,000 turn up every week in black-and-white shirts,” he said. “Amazing supporters. My honest opinion is they can get out of it.”

Tottenham (4-4-2): H Gomes 5 - V Corluka 5, J Woodgate 5, M Dawson 5, B Assou-Ekotto 6 - A Lennon 5, T Huddlestone 6, W Palacios 6, L Modric 7 - R Keane 5, D Bent 6. Substitutes: A Hutton 6 (for Dawson, 34min), J Defoe (for Bent, 75). Not used: C Cudicini, G Bale, D Zokora, D Bentley, F Campbell. Next: Manchester United (a).

Newcastle (3-4-1-2): S Harper 5 - H Beye 6, S Taylor 5, S Bassong 5 - R Taylor 5, K Nolan 4, N Butt 5, D Duff 5 - J Gutiérrez 5 - A Carroll 4, M Owen 5. Substitutes: A Smith 5 (for S Taylor, 46min), O Martins 6 (for Carroll, 61), M Viduka (for Nolan, 61). Not used: T Krul, D Guthrie, F Ameobi, D Edgar. Next: Portsmouth (h).

Referee: M Halsey Attendance: 35,850