Belgian international Branko Strupar hit his first goals since September but Derby had to cling on in the face of a late Tottenham onslaught at freezing Pride Park on Saturday.

Strupar's first-half double was enough for Jim Smith's Rams but they were made to hang on to their points after Taribo West gave them a glimmer of hope with an embarrassing 70th-minute own-goal.

The day - finally - belonged to Strupar, who had scored four goals in the Rams' first four matches this season before being laid low by two hernia operations, and this was only his fourth start since.

He stretched at the far post to put his side ahead after 11 minutes after Rory Delap neatly flicked Craig Burley's left-wing corner across the face of goal.

And he fired coolly home from the spot just past the half-hour mark after Malcolm Christie had been hauled down in the penalty box by Alton Thelwell.

Strupar departed to a standing ovation after 56 minutes after which his good work could have been undone by West, whose looping header over his own goalkeeper from Sol Campbell's hopeful punt, when he was under no pressure whatsoever, left the Rams living on their nerves.

How Christie could have rued his greedy 74th minute decision to struggle past Campbell and shoot high and wide to Neil Sullivan's right when Deon Burton, to his right, would surely have made it 3-1.

Spurs, sensing a great but scarcely deserved escape, pressed with Andy Booth, Ledley King and substitute Steffen Iversen coming close in a frantic goalmouth scramble, then Tim Sherwood's late free-kick sparking a Gary Doherty header which landed on the roof of the net.

As time ticked by Derby were guilty of giving away a string of unnecessary free-kicks and corners which were whipped into a busy box by Tim Sherwood, the last of which saw Booth fire inches over in injury time.

Until West gave them their chink of light, Spurs were shocking, with Thelwell's torrid first half display symptomatic of their desperate attempts to stay in the game.

Thelwell was put out of his misery by boss George Graham at half-time but the Spurs strikeforce, without Sergei Rebrov who was injured on the training ground yesterday, was for long periods isolated and ineffective up front.

Christie had a cheeky 26th minute effort disallowed for a foul on Spurs keeper Neil Sullivan while the visitors' few early chances fell to Doherty, whose header goalwards was cleared by the returning Horacio Carbonari, and Stephen Clemence, whose low shot on target was easily gathered by Andy Oakes.

The Rams could have made the game safe in a more up-tempo start to the second period, with Christie poking goalwards from close range then captain Darryl Powell blazing high and wide from 20 yards.

Booth then missed a shocker just past the hour, when King's initial effort was blocked and the Sheffield Wednesday loanee somehow contrived to screw his six-yard effort from in front of goal wide of the mark.

Booth tried gamely to make up for his error and almost received handsome reward late on, but Spurs' grandstand finish could not paint over the cracks which are clearly apparent in Graham's side as they look now to the FA Cup as their only means of salvaging another desperately disappointing season.

Teams:

Derby: Oakes, Delap, Riggott, West, Carbonari, Higginbotham, Powell, Burley, Johnson, Strupar (Burton 57), Christie (Gudjonsson 77).

Subs Not Used: Morris, Murray, Grant.

Booked: Riggott, Burton.

Goals: Strupar 12, 33 pen.

Tottenham: Sullivan, Clemence (Iversen 76), Doherty, Campbell, Young, Thelwell (Gardner 45), Freund, Sherwood, King, Booth, Ferdinand.

Subs Not Used: Walker, Korsten, Etherington.

Booked: Clemence, Freund, Ferdinand.

Goals: West 70 og.

Att: 29,410

Ref: R Harris (Oxford).