LUCKLESS Albion suffered a totally undeserved defeat as their survival hopes were dealt a serious blow.

The battling Baggies produced another inspiring away performance, only to be undone by Jermaine Jenas' classy 43rd-minute strike.

Spurs were fortunate not be behind before that after Heurelho Gomes brilliantly denied Jonas Olsson in the 22nd minute before Marc-Antoine Fortuné spurned a good opportunity 20 minutes later.

Tottenham threatened on occasion, more often than not on the counter-attack, but at the opposite end they were thankful to the woodwork for keeping Fortuné's deflected shot out six minutes after the break.

Shelton Martis also missed two glorious chances from Chris Brunt deliveries in the space of two second-half minutes when he firstly headed over from close range and then had another effort cleared off the goalline.

Youssouf Mulumbu was handed his full Albion debut as he replaced the injured Graham Dorrans (foot) in a five-man midfield.

Borja Valero made his first start in four games as he came in for Jay Simpson, who dropped to the bench.

Martis partnered Olsson at the heart of defence in place of the injured Abdoulaye Meite (hamstring).

The only change for the hosts saw £13.8million striker Roman Pavyluchenko replace injured £16.5million forward Darren Bent (knee) in attack.

The Baggies started brightly and Jonathan Woodgate had to be alert in the third minute to prevent the recalled Valero getting on the end of Fortuné's ball into the six-yard box.

A minute later, Mulumbu's cross from the right was only cleared as far as Paul Robinson whose 20-yard goalbound volley deflected off Ledley King and drifted just wide of the right-hand post.

Spurs' first effort on goal came from a free-kick in the sixth minute when Pavlyuchenko struck the ball well wide of the left-hand upright from 25 yards.

Robinson made a vital block as Vedran Corluka fired a loose ball goalwards in the 17th minute and, at the other end, King managed to clear Chris Brunt's long-range effort.

The visitors came within a whisker of taking the lead in the 22nd minute when Olsson headed Brunt's right-wing corner goalwards and Gomes flung himself to his right to claw it out.

Jonathan Greening spared Scott Carson's blushes two minutes later when the Albion goalkeeper fumbled Jenas' cross-cum-shot in the six-yard area and was relieved to see his skipper beat Pavlyuchenko to the rebound. Aaron Lennon, following up, volleyed wide of the left-hand post from 15 yards.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto's challenge from behind on Fortuné had the Albion fans screaming for a penalty in the 32nd minute - but referee Rob Styles waved play on.

Almost immediately, Harry Redknapp's men sprung forward as Luka Modric's shaped ball down the left put Pavlyuchenko in behind Martis, only for the Russian to cut inside and fire well over from an acute angle.

Another chance fell Pavlyuchenko's way when he spun on Lennon's pass but fired well wide of the right-hand post from just inside the area.

It was a case of Albion's defenders putting their bodies on the line six minutes before the break when Olsson firstly blocked Modric's shot before Gianni Zuiverloon took one where it hurts from Pavlyuchenko's strike.

Carson made amends for his earlier mistake in the 40th minute as he dived low to his right to keep out Lennon's powerful 20-yard drive.

The England keeper then had to grab King's goalbound flick from Jenas' chip into the box.

The game swiftly swung to the other end when Zuiverloon wriggled free of Assou-Ekotto and crossed to the back post for Fortuné, who volleyed over from six yards when he should at least have hit the target.

Jenas made the Baggies striker pay just a minute later when Corluka threaded the ball to the former Newcastle midfielder in a central position and he curled home into the bottom right-hand corner of the net from 25 yards.

Wilson Palacios powered onto Modric's short free-kick in the second minute of first-half stoppage time and watched his shot deflect off the wall and fly wide of the left-hand post.

Albion regrouped during the interval but their luck was out again in the 51st minute when Fortuné sprung onto a ball over the top and powered forward before seeing his 15-yard strike deflect off Corluka and hit the base of the left-hand post before bouncing across the face of goal to safety.

Five minutes later, the ball fell kindly for Lennon on the halfway line and he burst forward before side-stepping Olsson and drilling in a low 18-yard shot that Carson dived to hold at the second attempt.

Tony Mowbray was forced into a change in the 59th minute when Robinson limped off and was replaced by Simpson, who slotted in on the left of midfield.

Zuiverloon switched to left-back and Koren was handed the responsibility of filling the void at right-back.

Spurs made a change in the 65th minute as Jermain Defoe came on for Pavlyuchenko and, three minutes later, Juan Carlos Menseguez replaced Mulumbu for Albion.

Brunt delivered a pinpoint free-kick to the back post for Martis in the 69th minute - but the Dutch Antilles international headed over from just six yards.

Back came Spurs and Valero had to slide to clear the ball over his own crossbar from Corluka's right-wing cross.

But it was Spurs who rode their luck again when the impressive Martis' downward header from Brunt's right-wing corner was cleared off the goalline by Defoe in the 71st minute.

The Baggies battled until the end and Gomes was called into action again in the 81st minute when he managed to beat out Koren's deflected drive from the edge of the box.

Tottenham almost grabbed a second in the first minute of injury time when Lennon cut inside Olsson and fired off the foot of the right-hand post before seeing the ball squirm across the face of goal to safety.

Seconds later, Jenas brought the best out of Carson as the England keeper dived low to his left to turn the midfielder's shot around the far post for a corner.

There was one more half-chance for the Baggies as Martis leapt highest from Brunt's corner but headed wide.

Albion's on-field effort was not lost on the vociferous, 1,700-strong army of Baggies fans in the away end, who clapped Mowbray's men off the pitch after the final whistle

TOTTENHAM (4-4-2): Gomes; Corluka, King, Woodgate, Assou-Ekotto; Lennon, Palacios, Modric, Jenas; Keane, Pavlyuchenko (Defoe 65). Subs not used: Cudicini (gk), Hutton, Bale, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone.

ALBION (4-2-3-1): Carson; Zuiverloon, Martis, Olsson, Robinson (Simpson 59); Greening, Mulumbu (Menseguez 68); Brunt, Valero (Teixeira 77), Koren; Fortuné. Subs not used: Kiely (gk), Donk, Bednar, Kim.

BOOKINGS: TOTTENHAM - Palacios (foul 76).

REFEREE: R Styles (Hampshire).

ATTENDANCE: 35,836.

ALBION STARMAN: Youssouf Mulumbu.

PIC: EARNING THEIR SPURS...Valero tussles with Corluka