Sergei Rebrov wasted two good chances to give Spurs their first away win in the Premiership this season as they played out a goalless draw with West Ham at Upton Park.

In fact the Ukrainian suffered another miserable night in front of goal which ended in the £11million man being replaced by a former non-league striker.

His night finished on an embarrassing note as he was substituted nine minutes before the end of a closely contested derby, replaced by Dave McEwen, who not so long ago was playing his football at Dulwich Hamlet.

The only consolation for Rebrov came from the travelling Spurs fans, who are clearly desperate for their record signing to become a success.

They booed the substitution and chanted "you don't know what you are doing" at manager George Graham in the dug-out.

But Graham could hardly be blamed for hauling off the striker who has failed to make an impact since his summer move from Dynamo Kiev, and in the early stages at Upton Park he was treating the ball like a hot potato.

Rebrov had a good chance to add to his seven-goal tally after only two minutes, as Spurs threatened from a Steffen Freund long throw.

The ball was cleared to Gary Doherty who hooked the ball to the edge of the box, where Campbell found Rebrov with a clever flick header.

But Rebrov looked very much like a striker lacking in confidence as he swung hurriedly at the ball and fluffed the shot completely.

That lack of confidence was apparent again after 10 minutes, when Anderton slipped a neat ball through to Rebrov on the edge of the box. The diminutive striker had a clear shooting chance, but instead tried to feed Leonhardsen on his right and over-hit the pass.

Rebrov did do better on one occasion after 39 minutes, when he sent in a low angled drive from 20 yards, but it flashed across the face of goal and went a couple of yards wide of the far post.

While Rebrov suffered, his strike partner Andy Booth had an encouraging debut. The arrival of Booth from First Division strugglers Sheffield Wednesday on a month's loan was criticised by some Spurs supporters as a move which lacks ambition.

But Spurs need a goal from somewhere as this was their third successive goalless draw in the league. And the lanky new striker was unlucky to be denied a dream debut when he had a goal ruled out by a marginal offside decision after 15 minutes.

It was a well-worked passing move by Spurs. Skipper Sol Campbell fed Oyvind Leonhardsen midway inside the West Ham half and he swept the ball out right to Darren Anderton.

The curling cross from Anderton was perfect for Booth to rise above the home defence and power a header into the back of the net, but the assistant referee's flag went straight up to halt the Tottenham celebrations.

Tottenham were again unlucky not to take the lead after 42 minutes from another move inspired by Anderton, when he pounced on a loose ball and drilled in a shot from 25 yards which Shaka Hislop saved but could not hold.

As the ball squirmed away from his body, Leonhardsen slid in, but he was beaten to it by an important saving tackle from Finnish loan signing Hannu Tihinen.

West Ham were surprisingly slow into their stride, perhaps not yet back down to earth after Sunday's heroic FA Cup fourth-round victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

They did not test Ian Walker until the 33rd minute, and when they did the former England goalkeeper - deputising for Neil Sullivan who was completing a two-match ban - was equal to the challenge.

Freddie Kanoute made a powerful run down the right flank and into the box, and he drilled in a shot from a tight angle which Walker blocked at his near post before turning the ball behind for the first corner of the game.

But it was left to Paolo Di Canio - scorer of that winning goal at Old Trafford - to carve out the first half's real moment of magic a minute before the break.

The skilful Italian was a yard inside the Spurs half when he lost Stephen Clemence with a mesmerising back-flick. He raced down the right and delivered a cross which saw Frank Lampard head on to the bar.

That set up an exciting opening to the second half, with the Hammers stepping up the pressure before seeing Tihinen rescue them again with a great goalline clearance.

The West Ham fans were wondering how Kanoute failed to connect with a low driven cross by Di Canio after 50 minutes, which evaded everyone as it ran across the six-yard line.

Eight minutes later, Tottenham's most dangerous combination almost gave the visitors the lead.

Anderton scooped the ball into the box and Leonhardsen lifted it over the head of Hislop as he raced off his line. It looked a goal all the way until Tihinen arrived from nowhere to hook it over his own crossbar.

Spurs were lifted by that chance and Booth's aerial presence was again a threat after 63 minutes as he did well to meet another Anderton ball into the box, but his header looped just over the bar.

It was Tottenham's turn to be rescued after 74 minutes, when Walker denied Stuart Pearce with a fine save.

Di Canio was chopped down from behind by Chris Perry, who earned a booking, and the Hammers were awarded a free-kick 25 yards from goal.

Pearce drilled the ball along the floor and through the wall, and Walker reacted well with a diving save to his left to push it round the post.

Di Canio got behind Perry again four minutes later, but this time he fired the ball into the side netting.

The atmosphere was hot, and so was some of the football, but neither side could find a way through.

In the last 10 minutes Joe Cole flashed a long-range effort over the bar for the Hammers and Booth was denied by a Pearce block.

In the end, a draw was a fair result, but Spurs boss Graham must surely be wondering where his team's next goal will come from.

Teams:

West Ham: Hislop, Stuart Pearce, Dailly, Tihinen, Winterburn, Schemmel, Carrick, Cole, Lampard, Di Canio, Kanoute.

Subs Not Used: Forrest, Moncur, Song, Camara, Soma.

Booked: Tihinen.

Tottenham: Walker, Doherty, Campbell, Perry, King, Freund, Anderton, Leonhardsen, Clemence (Young 84), Booth,Rebrov (McEwen 84).

Subs Not Used: Segers, Sherwood, Thelwell.

Booked: Perry.

Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).