Ten days before their date with Chelsea in the Carling Cup final, Tottenham Hotspur showed that they are in rude health. They eased past Slavia Prague in the first leg of their round-of-32 Uefa Cup tie in the bitter cold of the Strahov Stadium last night and, on this evidence, should safely negotiate the return leg at White Hart Lane next Thursday, their last match before the trip to Wembley.

But for the heroics of Martin Vaniak, the Slavia goalkeeper, Tottenham would have won by a landslide. Yet as they relaxed towards the end, they conceded a needless goal when Radek Cerny, the former Slavia goalkeeper, fumbled a cross. They also escaped further damage when Erich Brabec headed against the crossbar from a Jaroslav Cerny corner. Still, they had done more than enough in the first half.

The burning question, though, must be who starts in goal against Chelsea? Paul Robinson has now been exiled to the bench for ten matches but Cerny’s glaring blunder, which allowed David Strihavka to nudge the ball over the line in the 69th minute, should bring the former England No 1 back into the reckoning.

As usual, Juande Ramos, the Tottenham head coach, gave little away. “Mistakes can happen,” he said. “It is the same the world over. Today it was the turn of Cerny, but I don’t think much about it. He showed a few nerves after conceding the goal and perhaps more than normal. But it was difficult for him playing at his home. Before Wembley, we have another match. I do not think about the team for Wembley.”

Thoughts of the League Cup final should have been far from the players’ minds, especially with Ramos attempting a unique hat-trick after winning the Uefa Cup in the previous two years with Seville, his former club. Uppermost in their minds would have been the 1-0 wins over Slavia in each leg of their qualifying-round meeting last season.

Slavia had dropped down from the Champions League after finishing third in their group behind Arsenal, who beat them 7-0 in North London, and Seville, who beat them 4-2 in Spain when Ramos was still in charge. Their fitness, in their first match since returning from a two-month winter break, was as questionable as their ability. Their concentration was, as well, with Tottenham taking the lead in the fourth minute when Dimitar Berbatov drilled in a low shot past Vaniak, who seemed a shade slow to react.

Berbatov, having scored his sixteenth goal of the season, gave Ramos a scare when he pulled up sharply after failing to control a pass. However, after receiving spray treatment to his right ankle on the touchline, he returned to the pitch.

Tottenham were cruising and increased their lead in the 30th minute. Jermaine Jenas clipped the ball to Robbie Keane and he cleverly guided it past the onrushing Vaniak for his twentieth goal of the season. But for a series of acrobatic saves from Vaniak, twice from Berbatov and once from Tom Huddlestone, Tottenham could have been out of sight at half-time.

“In the first half, we played brilliantly,” Keane said. “Slavia didn’t get a sniff. But when we came out for the second half, I don’t really know what happened. The performance just wasn’t good enough. We won the game, but we wanted to get the job finished tonight.”

Some of Tottenham’s inter-passing, much of it of the one-touch variety, had been sublime. Chelsea beware. Yet complacency began to creep in. Berbatov reverted to his can’t-raise-a-gallop mode and calamity Cerny dropped David Hubacek’s deep cross. “Things happen,” Keane said. “He made a mistake, but he’s big enough to accept it.”

Sitting on the bench, did Robinson allow himself a smirk? The Wembley place that seemed to be eluding him is very much back on again.

Slavia Prague (4-1-4-1): M Vaniak - F Drizdal, M Latka, E Brabec, D Hubacek – M Suchy (sub: L Volesak, 83min) – M Jarolim (sub: D Kalivoda, 59), J Cerny, M Tavares, D Pudil (sub: M Ivana, 46) – D Strihavka. Substitutes not used: M Vorel, O Sourek, T Belaid. Booked: Hubacek, Ivana, Tavares.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-2): R Cerny – T Tainio (sub: J O’Hara, 59), J Woodgate, D Zokora, P Chimbonda – A Lennon, J Jenas, T Huddlestone, S Malbranque – D Berbatov, R Keane (sub: D Bent, 67). Substitutes not used: P Robinson, Lee Young Pyo, Y Kaboul, A Taarabt, L King. Booked: Tainio, Jenas, O’Hara.

Referee: C Circhetta (Switzerland).