Teddy Sheringham and Ledley King are two players desperately hoping to be on England's plane to Japan this summer. But on current form the Tottenham pair are in danger of missing out.

Skipper Sheringham is desperately out of sorts. He admitted in his programme notes that he did not perform in last week's Worthington Cup final, and against Sunderland here he missed two chances which are usually regarded as sitters for a striker of his quality.

Defender King is not having a much better time either. He was caught in possession against Blackburn and allowed Andy Cole to score the winning goal in the Millennium Stadium last Sunday.

It was a similar story here as he dawdled when in possession deep into first-half stoppage time. Sunderland's Cameroon international striker Patrick Mboma pounced to rob him and fire home a goal on his full debut and cancel out Gus Poyet's earlier strike.

Fortunately for King and Sheringham, their blushes were spared by Les Ferdinand, who stroked home the winner after 62 minutes, although it was put on a plate for him by Christian Ziege.

Spurs held on for the three points and keep alive their slim hopes of qualifying for Europe via the Premiership, while Sunderland must keep looking over their shoulder as they are not yet out of the relegation dog-fight.

The afternoon started on a poignant note with a minute's silence held in honour of Derek Hoddle, after the Spurs manager's dad passed away on Wednesday.

When play got under way, Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips had the first good chance of an open game in the first minute.

Mboma played the ball to the edge of the box where Jason McAteer laid it off nicely and Phillips squirmed a low drive wide, when he might have at least hit the target.

Sheringham did hit the target after three minutes after a good lay off by the outstanding Ferdinand, but Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen was right behind it and kept out the strong shot.

The next good chance saw Poyet run on to Ferdinand's flick header but he rushed his shot and sent it wide.

Ferdinand made a powerful break after 19 minutes but his shot was well blocked by Joachim Bjorklund, who was the covering defender.

There was a blow for the visitors after 28 minutes when George McCartney suffered a shin injury and had to come off to receive treatment. He set off for the dressing room and in his absence Spurs opened the scoring.

The home side won a corner on the half hour mark and Ziege's cross from the right was bundled into the net by Poyet from close range for his 12th goal of the season and eighth in the Premiership.

After 34 minutes we witnessed one of the misses of the season, and surprisingly it came from Sheringham.

Ferdinand did brilliantly to win possession on the right flank and he burst into the box and squared the ball for his strike partner. All Sheringham had to do was knock it past Sorensen from six yards, but he lifted it over the bar.

Another golden chance went begging for Spurs two minutes before the break. Ziege delivered a lovely cross from the left and Dean Richards - who had joined the attack for a free kick moments earlier - headed over from six yards with the goal at his mercy.

Having dominated the first half in terms of chances, Spurs had another good opportunity within a minute of the restart, as they won a free kick a yard outside the box for a foul by Jody Craddock on Ferdinand.

Sheringham took the free kick and the way he is playing lately it was no surprise when he curled it a couple of yards over the bar.

Sunderland began to show more desire for the three points and after 54 minutes Neil Sullivan had to be alert to tip over Kevin Kilbane's header from a long throw.

The Sunderland bench were furious four minutes later as Mboma was through on goal and appeared to be pulled down by Richards as he tried to shoot, but no penalty was given.

Spurs broke forward and Ziege picked out Sheringham with a delicate cross, and this time the England striker sent a free header wide.

Tottenham's frustrations were finally banished after 62 minutes, however, when they regained the lead.

Ziege forced his way into the box and after drawing the goalkeeper he unselfishly squared the ball to Ferdinand, who had the easiest of tasks in tapping it into an empty net for his 15th goal of the season.

Phillips was another England hopeful who had a disappointing game, and he screwed another shot wide in injury time when he again might have found the target.

It meant that Spurs held on for all three points and a win that will surely be dedicated to the recently departed Derek Hoddle.

Teams:

Tottenham: Sullivan, Thatcher, King, Richards, Taricco (Gardner 89), Sherwood, Poyet, Ziege, Davies, Ferdinand (Rebrov 76), Sheringham.

Subs Not Used: Kelly, Leonhardsen, Etherington.

Goals: Poyet 31, Ferdinand 63.

Sunderland: Sorensen, Haas, McCartney, Bjorklund (Schwarz 58), Craddock, Gray, Reyna (Williams 53), McAteer, Mboma (Quinn 72), Kilbane, Phillips.

Subs Not Used: Macho, Bellion.

Booked: McAteer.

Att: 36,062

Ref: R Styles (Waterlooville).