Tottenham's Didier Zokora and Fulham's Clint Dempsey keep their eye on the ball. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

They did so without Brede Hangeland, their towering, influential and coveted centre half, and with Mark Schwarzer in excellent form in goal. That, though, may imply that Spurs dominated and peppered Fulham throughout, which was not the case. Harry Redknapp's side threatened only in fits and starts and if his board had not already accepted their manager's argument of the need for a fourth striker, they would have done after this match.

Crucially perhaps from Hodgson's perspective, Fulham also continued their unbeaten run without Jimmy Bullard. The midfield player limped off in the 37th minute but had been struggling from the third minute with a dead leg. Fulham's success this season has focused on Hangeland and Bullard and while Hodgson as been at pains to understate their influence, the consensus has been that without them his side would falter. So, here was evidence that, as Hodgson put it, “the rest are not bit-part players”.

Redknapp remained upbeat but bemoaned the difficulty that he is finding in accommodating Luka Modric in a formation that will reap goals. Redknapp was full of praise for Bobby Zamora's ability at holding up the ball. “I wish he was still at Tottenham,” Redknapp said of the Fulham forward who had a brief spell at White Hart Lane five years ago. If he cannot wrest Craig Bellamy away from West Ham United, maybe Hodgson will be fending off a bid for yet another player.

At the other end the Spurs goalkeeper repaid the “We love you Gomes” song from the home fans with a fine save from Clint Dempsey's overhead kick. It helped that an earlier tame shot from Dempsey had been gathered calmly by him. Heurelho Gomes could yet end up the club's player of the season if he continues to exhibit fewer and fewer gaffes. “For £10 million he should be half-decent,” Redknapp added.

Dempsey's acrobatic effort came courtesy of a dreadful pass out of defence from Ledley King. It was one of those games; briefly sour then briefly sweet. A burst of pace from Lennon led only to a wasted overhit ball. A swerving run from Modric that deceived Danny Murphy and Aaron Hughes deserved a goal but the Croatia player's shot sailed too high. Modric might have done better, too, in the 65th minute when Assou-Ekotto delivered a ball with pace from the left that the playmaker headed well wide.

Roman Pavlyuchenko's arrival in the 72nd minute lifted an increasingly dispirited home crowd and his first touch was an attempt at goal that took a deflection and could have gone anywhere; but Fulham - even without Hangeland who had a 24-hour bug - have a blessed as well as organised defence.

In the 85th minute Andrew Johnson seemed poised to give Fulham the lead but the forward stumbled under pressure from King, allowing Gomes a more simple save than he probably expected. Redknapp's team remain too close to the relegation zone for their own liking but he reiterated that the league is congested - just as the pitch was yesterday for his forwards.