After Tottenham Hotspur saw off Blackburn Rovers this afternoon in an entertaining match at White Hart Lane, Assistant Manager Kevin Bond seemed relieved and spoke of the importance of his squad performing so well with many key footballers injured.
The 4-2 result was no less than the home team deserved as they had already taken control of the game before Welsh winger Gareth Bale scored the first of his two goals in the 16th minute.
Despite cruising to a four-goal lead midway through the second-half, the club management will still be disappointed by the inability of the team to defend their goal and keep a clean sheet in the league - this match being the twelfth already this season in which they have failed to do so.
Before the match, there was good injury news, with David Bentley making the bench and Rafael Van der Vaart deemed fit enough to start. Harry Redknapp, after seeing his side's attacking threat blunted at The Reebok stadium last week and frustrated in midweek against Sunderland, reverted to his preferred 4-4-2 formation, pairing a goalless Peter Crouch with Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The move was to pay dividends as both got on the scoresheet.
After Bale met a Van der Vaart corner with a precise near post header, Pavlyuchenko angered manager Harry Redknapp by blazing over when in on goal and then missing a penalty which former Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson was unlucky to concede.
But the Russian hitman made amends moments later with a header from a wonderful Bale cross.
Despite William Gallas needing to clear a shot off the line early in the second-half, Tottenham continued to create chances and Crouch pounced on a mistake by French defender Gael Givet to put the home team out of sight.
Kaboul cleared a second goalbound Rovers shot away from danger moments later and Bale effectively sealed victory for the London club with a miscued shot after Dutch hero Van der Vaart brought down a cross with his arm.
But the afternoon would be soured by a deflected Givet striker from 18 yards and, moments later, a poor piece of goalkeeping from Heurelho Gomes.
Nevertheless, the performance from a side missing Michael Dawson, Jermaine Defoe, Ledley King and Aaron Lennon among others, was full of quality and attacking intent.
A vital three points in the context of a very difficult sequence of league and European clashes between now and Christmas. But with several players nearing a return to action, Spurs fans can look forward to the festive period with renewed optimism and no little confidence in the abilities of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart to open up defences.
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