One day, Tottenham Hotspur will surprise everyone and kill off a game, but it was business as usual yesterday against Wisla Krakow, when they staved off impending disaster amid a series of self-inflicted scares.

Juande Ramos, the head coach, who has lurched from mishap to calamity so far this season, restored some of his standing in a competition that he won in successive years with Seville in 2006 and 2007. A scruffy own goal by Arkadiusz Glowacki midway through the second half was enough to secure Tottenham’s passage to the Uefa Cup group stages, despite a late equaliser.

For all their toil and endeavour, Tottenham endured an unnecessary, uncomfortable finale — missing two opportunities on the break and doing their best to concede a second goal that would have sent the first-round tie into extra time — but that was still an improvement on the jeers that have greeted recent performances.

Even the normally granite-faced Ramos seemed to be twitching after Wisla equalised. His peculiar substitutions had contributed to the problems. Jamie O’Hara, the second-half substitute, twice switched position on the left flank with Gareth Bale while Michael Dawson’s arrival to shore up the centre of defence only added to the confusion late on.

At least Tottenham are through to the next group phase and into the draw on Tuesday. “There was no euphoria in the dressing-room, just a sense of getting the job done,” Ramos said. “I am happy with qualification. It is a good result for us. When you win three or four matches, you are the most important person, but when you lose, you are the worst person. If we can win 2-0 or 3-0, then it would change the minds of the players. The important thing was to qualify.”

Ramos has continually used the words “difficult” and “improve” when trying to explain the team’s failure to win a league match this season and he still has many conundrums to unravel. Above all, he must fathom why even with three new and talented midfield players, only one of whom started yesterday, the team continue to create few chances. The same problem was a blot on the reign of Martin Jol, his predecessor. Mariusz Pawelek, in the Wisla goal, did not have a meaningful shot to save. A player to link the attack and the midfield may be the answer, but no one has been able to step into the void left by the departure of Robbie Keane.

Darren Bent looked more comfortable playing farther up the pitch yesterday — even as a lone striker — which leaves Ramos to find a way to partner him with Roman Pavlyuchenko, the £14 million signing from Spartak Moscow, who was cup-tied. Ramos used a 4-5-1 system successfully here and in the victory against Newcastle United in the Carling Cup nine days ago, but he was at a loss to explain why the same formation looked limp in the 2-0 defeat by Portsmouth on Sunday. He made seven changes from that team, giving Fraizer Campbell his first start. The forward, on loan from Manchester United, did his best to support Bent, but Aaron Lennon’s wing play was all too predicable.

Tottenham have kept only one clean sheet in nine matches this season and even with the return of Ledley King, the defence looked jittery on the turn, something that Wisla repeatedly tried to exploit. “It is difficult to get one \,” Ramos said. “It makes it harder to win matches when you have problems to score as well.”

Wisla had zipped the ball around confidently at White Hart Lane, but they were hindered by a bobbly pitch with long grass. Tottenham looked reasonably comfortable until the end of an untidy first half when Wojciech Lobodzinski slipped a pass through to Radoslaw Sobolewski, who scuffed a weak shot at the legs of Heurelho Gomes. The goalkeeper saved soon afterwards from Júnior Diaz.

After the break, Tottenham took the lead when Bale delivered a cross that was turned in by Glowacki as he tussled with Campbell. Pawel Brozek missed several chances to equalise but finally latched on to a clever chip from Diaz to lob in with seven minutes left. In the closing minutes, Brozek’s header was pushed on to the post by Gomes, the forward had an appeal for a penalty turned down and Marcelo blazed over.

“It was very important to get through,” King said. “We knew it was going to be tough coming here. We had to fight for every ball, but we showed some character. Hopefully, things can pick up.”

Maciej Skorza, the Wisla coach, was angered by his team’s performance. “We feel disappointed as we could have won,” he said. “It was not a lack of luck, but a lack of skill. They gave everything but we failed to put them under pressure enough at the start.”

Wisla Krakow (4-4-1-1): M Pawelek — M Baszczynski, A Glowacki, Cléber, Piotr Brozek — R Boguski (sub: Marcelo, 82min), R Sobolewski, M Cantoro (sub: M Zienczuk, 66), J Diaz — T Jirsak (sub: W Lobodzinski, 32) — Pawel Brozek. Substitutes not used: M Juszczyk, P Singlar, A Niedzielan, A Barreto. Booked: Lobodzinski, Cléber.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-5-1): H Gomes — C Gunter, J Woodgate, L King, G Bale — A Lennon (sub: M Dawson, 88), J Jenas, D Zokora, L Modric (sub: T Huddlestone, 77), F Campbell (sub: J O’Hara, 68) — D Bent. Substitutes not used: C Sánchez, D Bentley, Giovani Dos Santos, B Assou-Ekotto. Booked: Woodgate, Modric, Bale, Zokora, Lennon.

Referee: A Dan Tudor (Romania).