Darren Bent cut a despondent, peripheral figure last season after his club-record £16.5 million transfer from Charlton Athletic, but the striker’s revival in fortunes is mirroring that of his club under Harry Redknapp. Bent’s first hat-trick for Tottenham Hotspur was the highlight of a clinical victory over Dynamo Zagreb, taking his tally for the season to nine — more than the combined total for Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, who left in the summer, for their new clubs.

“I had almost forgotten what it felt like,” Bent, who scored his last treble for Ipswich Town five years ago, said. Shirley, his mother, grabbed the match ball.

Redknapp targeted one victory from the two remaining matches to qualify for the last 32 after Spurs moved into second in group D, behind Udinese. The new manager has said that his priority is moving away from the bottom of the Barclays Premier League, but he knows that there is kudos in a decent cup run. Redknapp even had the luxury of bringing on John Bostock, who at 16 years and 295 days became the club’s youngest player, breaking a record set by Ally Dick in 1982.

Victory capped a remarkable 12 days in charge for Redknapp, who has seen his team defeat Liverpool and pick up seven league points out of nine since he replaced Juande Ramos in the wake of a 2-0 defeat away to Udinese in their opening Uefa Cup match. “It’s terrific,” Redknapp said. “The confidence is up. We are going to have good and bad days, but we have shown enough already.” The only sour note came when police and stewards had to take action against Dynamo supporters who had lit flares.

Bent’s form poses a selection problem, however, with Roman Pavlyuchenko available for the match against Manchester City on Sunday after being cup-tied last night. Redknapp believes that playing them together, with Luka Modric behind them, would leave his team unbalanced and narrow. “Bent has been terrific. He’s shown great enthusiasm and a great attitude,” Redknapp said.

Modric, playing against his former club, was outstanding and Dynamo were unable to cope as he pulled the strings. Early on, his quick free kick freed Huddlestone to cut inside and curl a shot into the side netting before Modric scuffed a shot that troubled Ivan Kelava, the Dynamo goalkeeper.

David Bentley, who has also responded positively to Redknapp’s arrival, helped to create the first goal and open the floodgates, flicking the ball with the outside of a boot to Aaron Lennon. The winger delivered a cross that Huddlestone missed — or possibly dummied — and Bent rifled a shot that deflected off Igor Biscan and looped over Kelava.

Lennon was arguably one of the better players during Tottenham’s dismal start to the season and was unfortunate to lose his place in the starting line-up when Redknapp arrived. Making his first start under the new manager, he floated several dangerous crosses that tested the Dynamo defence. Within three minutes Tottenham had doubled their lead. Ivica Vrdoljak’s casual pass struck Bentley and was diverted into the path of Huddlestone. The midfield player slid an intelligent pass to Bent, who calmly passed the ball in.

A third goal was not long in coming. Bentley floated a corner to the edge of the penalty area for Huddlestone to volley sweetly low into the corner. “We worked on the move, but that was the first time in the game that the players got in the right positions to leave the required space,” Redknapp said. “Manchester City will be aware of it now, I suppose.” Bent then combined with Huddlestone again to complete his hat-trick.

Tottenham Hotspur (4-4-1-1): H Gomes — A Hutton, M Dawson, J Woodgate (sub: C Gunter, 85min), G Bale — D Bentley (sub: J Bostock, 79), D Zokora, T Huddlestone, A Lennon — L Modric (sub: F Campbell, 75) — D Bent. Substitutes not used: C Sánchez, Gilberto, B Assou-Ekotto, D Dervite.

Dynamo Zagreb (4-2-3-1): I Kelava — D Lovren, D Drpic (sub: Etto, 46), I Biscan, L Ibáñez — I Vrdoljak, M Hrgovic — M Mikic, Sammir (sub: P Morales 43), M Mandzukic — B Balaban (sub: M Badelj, 60). Substitutes not used: F Loncaric, A Tomic, J Tadic, Carlos. Booked: Lovren, Hrgovic.

Referee: F Fautrel (France).