Tottenham Hotspur 2 Portsmouth 1

Martin Jol: “We had to start quickly. It was our third game in a week after a European match and we wanted to score an early goal. Portsmouth were determined going into this game and had a number of former Spurs players, so it could have been tricky. I knew we were in for a tough game but in the first half we handled it well.

“Portsmouth was a worry because we didn't do well against Everton after a midweek game and Fulham after a midweek game, so it was very important to get this result.

“They scored just before half-time and in the second half we had some tired legs so we had to sit back. We also had five or six fresh players as well, so that was an advantage for us, we dug in and defensively, the back four and the keeper all had very good games. I was pleased but it wasn't easy.

“We've had a problem on the left – Teemu Tainio has played there, Reto Ziegler lacked a bit of rhythm against Slavia Prague on Thursday but we couldn't blame him for that. I just thought against Portsmouth to give Danny Murphy a chance there because he's a more experienced player and I thought he did well. It was maybe a bit of a gamble but I was delighted with him opening the scoring.”

“Jermain Defoe scored and defensively we looked okay.The only disappointment was that we didn't cut out the cross for Portsmouth's goal and that was still about the minor mistakes. So they had their goal and Paul Robinson's amazing save from Lua Lua at the end, so that's one goal and one chance. Overall, we had some great performances - Didier Zokora, Jermaine Jenas, Michael Dawson at the back. I'm only pleased with the performances of our lads."

“I felt we played better than them in the first half and perhaps they edged it in the second half. If you saw the chances we had over the whole game, we deserved to win. I felt in the first half we played some good stuff.”

Paul Robinson: "It was a great win. We knew it would be difficult even after going a couple of goals up with our confidence a bit low after not winning for a few games in the league.

"It showed in the second half and we looked a little bit nervy, but we held on well for our second very important win in a week.”

“For us to be near the bottom three was not good enough for this club so to win in Europe and now this was massive for us."

"I feel as though I owed that to the lads (the save from Lomana Lua Lua's header near the end). I had not been at my best without playing particularly badly. I just wanted to give the lads something back and it was nice to do it with that save."

"We needed to go into the international break on the back of two wins and we've done that.”

Ledley King: "It was a game we knew we had to win.”

"I spoke to JJ before the game and we agreed that we wanted to start quickly and how it would be great to go 1-0 up because we hadn't scored for a few league games. We knew if we scored that first goal it would put us in a strong position.

"We came out of the blocks quickly and scored early, exactly what we talked about beforehand – we felt we needed to start well, put pressure on them and we did that. It was a great start.

"We were a little edgy at times, we had to dig deep at times and didn't always play the most attractive football, but we got the three points."

Dimitar Berbatov: "There was a defender in front me and that is why I was a little bit slow to it, but fortunately Danny was there and we got an early goal."

"We trained really hard and I was happy to be back in the mix with the guys and playing on the pitch. The most important thing was that we won but I was happy to have played a game and helped my team (after five weeks out injured)."

Danny Murphy: "It was my first goal for the club and it had been a while since I'd scored - it seemed like it anyway, hence the wild celebrations and silly slide on my front.”

"It was an important goal for us that gave us the confidence to go on and play some good stuff, which I think we did, especially in the first half. The second goal gave us a cushion but unfortunately we gave Portsmouth one just before half-time.

"It was a bad time to give a goal away, I thought we were comfortable and playing the better stuff. A two-goal lead was justified, I felt, then the second half became a bit edgy for us after recent results going against us. We all felt we needed this one, especially going into a break, we stood firm and I think the back four was really solid and Robbo made a great save near the end.”

“I thought it was a reasonably strong performance. We did the right thing trying to win the game early on. We got our goals after struggling in that department before the second half became a little edgy. There were some tired legs out there late on after the week that we had.

"We have played well and said 'unlucky' at the end a few times recently and that's no good. We've had a good result now and got three points on the board."

Source: TottenhamHotspur.com