When is a rotation not a rotation? When it is Martin Jol’s selection policy. This was the fifth time in succession that the Tottenham Hotspur head coach has changed one or both of his front pair, and the fourteenth occasion in 21 fixtures this season. Robbie Keane dropped to the bench in favour of Jermain Defoe, who played up front alongside Dimitar Berbatov, with Mido injured.

As with Pavlov and his dogs, Jol wants his strikers salivating — although in hope, not expectation, of something good. “I don’t rotate. If you rotate, they are waiting for their matches. They must be eager,” Jol said. “They have to push me every training session, every week. That’s good for competition. If they do that, then they’re true professionals and that is what they are.”

Claudio Ranieri, the former Chelsea head coach, is probably the most famous progenitor of the attitude that now permeates the Barclays Premiership: there is no such thing as a “best XI” — only a best XI for a particular match.

Whatever the semantics of Jol’s selection process, with one defeat in 14 games it seems to be working and fatigue after continental sorties is not an issue. Tottenham have won their past four games after Uefa Cup ties, including the 2-1 win over Chelsea in the previous league match at White Hart Lane.

“This was a crucial moment for us,” Jol said, referring to the need to build momentum by claiming three points. Up to tenth, Tottenham can enjoy the rare frisson of going into next Saturday’s match against Arsenal feeling more optimistic than their local rivals.

With the news that the Wigan-based World Pie Eating Championship has changed its rules to join the fight against obesity — and introduced a vegetarian option — sport in the town needed to regain its credibility, and were it not for a nightmarish 90 seconds shortly before half-time, this might have been Wigan Athletic’s fifth win in six matches.

Tottenham were wreathed in torpor early on and it took Henri Camara’s fifth goal of the season to jerk them into focus, the Senegal striker volleying in Lee McCulloch’s knock-back after 24 minutes. Immediately, Chris Kirkland was called into action, the Wigan goalkeeper saving Steed Malbranque’s deflected shot and the rebound from Defoe.

Fed with his back to goal by Berbatov, Defoe spun past Emmerson Boyce and fired in the equaliser three minutes before half-time. Then Berbatov poked the ball through Matt Jackson’s legs and steered the ball into the roof of the net, celebrating his first league strike since the second game of the season notably with more enthusiasm than last Thursday, when he scored the only goal against his former club, Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bulgaria forward then set up Aaron Lennon for the final goal in injury time.