West Bromwich Albion were pushed closer to relegation from the Barclays Premier League after Jermaine Jenas' winner for Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Jenas, with England coach Fabio Capello in the stands, broke the deadlock just before the break to keep his side in the hunt for a seventh-placed finish that would earn European football.

The chant of "1-0 to the Tottenham" could become familiar to Spurs fans - they have won by that scoreline now in their last four home matches.

They were bottom when Harry Redknapp took over in October but are finishing the season strongly, while Tony Mowbray's men look like they need a miracle.

The visitors came into this fixture propping up the table but encouraged by their victory over Sunderland last time out, although after this defeat they still only have 28 points, six fewer than their total when they escaped against the odds four years ago.

With Middlesbrough losing earlier in the day and Newcastle United having a Sunday fixture, it was a missed opportunity to make up ground on their rivals at the bottom.

The Baggies host Liverpool and Wigan Athletic before travelling to Blackburn Rovers and seven points could still be enough for them, but time appears to be running out.

The first half summed up their season, they had plenty of possession, created chances but found themselves going into the break behind.

They would have been ahead after 22 minutes but Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes kept the scores level with an acrobatic save, with Jonas Olsson almost turning around to celebrate before the Brazilian plucked his header away.

The Baggies had a penalty shout turned down when Benoit Assou-Ekotto got his body in front of Marc-Antoine Fortune, with Rob Styles giving the benefit of the doubt to the Spurs left-back.

Fortune also volleyed over after being found unmarked at the far post by Gianni Zuiverloon's cross. Had one of those chances resulted in a goal, there may have been a different outcome.

Spurs had been limited to half-chances, with Aaron Lennon stabbing wide after Scott Carson fumbled and Roman Pavlyuchenko thrashing over after Luka Modric slid him through down the left.

There would have been no complaints if the score was level at half-time but Jenas broke the deadlock two minutes before the break. He received the ball from Vedran Corluka, had time to take a touch as Youssouf Mulumbu backed off, before curling his effort into the bottom corner from 25 yards.

It was harsh on West Brom as Carson looked to have had his view blocked by referee Styles but that mattered little to Jenas, who would have been aware Capello was watching in the stands.

Capello was keeping an eye on the likes of Lennon, as well as Croatia pair Vedran Corluka and Modric, who England will be up against later this year in a World Cup qualifier.

Spurs' England centre-backs, Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate, were trying their best to keep Fortune quiet. West Brom's lone forward forced Gomes into a save with a low shot early in the second half, then struck the post with an effort that deflected off Corluka.

Mowbray then brought on Jay Simpson to offer Fortune support, while Jermain Defoe was introduced for Pavlyuchenko.

Shelton Martis had one header flash over and another cleared off the line by Defoe, while Borja Valero cleared his own crossbar when he made a last-ditch clearance at the other end.

Gomes was forced into a late save, at full stretch, to deny Robert Koren's deflected effort. Lennon struck a post in the final minute.