As one French hero departed, so emerged another Gallic genius to warm the hearts of the suffering Tottenham fans.

Fredi Kanoute may be off to Tunisia to represent Mali in the African Nations Cup, but his French counterpart Stephane Dalmat lifted some of the gloom around White Hart Lane with two goals in the space of 14 minutes to lift Spurs out of the bottom three of the Barclaycard Premiership.

An encouraging night for the Londoners was rounded off by Welsh international Simon Davies, who marked his first start since early September following a hip injury by guiding home the third to finish off Steve Bruce's Birmingham by half time.

Robbie Savage tucked home a 67th minute penalty - but the three-goal advantage was restored after 78 minutes when Robbie Keane scored a deserved goal.

There was a buzz around north London before kick-off as Giovanni Trapattoni became the latest name to be linked to the vacant manager's job, amid rumours that the Italian national team coach was due to watch this encounter.

Trapattoni's presence was not confirmed, but the Italian was soon forgotten as Spurs came flying out of the traps to end a run of four successive league defeats.

It was Dalmat who fired the hosts into the lead after only seven minutes.

Darren Anderton fed him on the right edge of the box with a square pass and the man on loan from Inter Milan drilled a left-foot drive along the ground and into the bottom left corner - his second goal for the club.

It was the first time Birmingham's defence had been breached inside the first 15 minutes of a Premiership game this season - and they were beaten again when Dalmat pounced after 23 minutes.

It followed great work by Keane, who twisted and turned his way inside the right corner of the six-yard box before drilling in a low cross.

Maik Taylor could not hold it and the ball fell at the feet of Dalmat, who swept it home from just a couple of yards.

Keane might have scored after 28 minutes when he raced clear from halfway, but he snatched at his shot from 16 yards and Taylor dived low to his left to save.

The Republic of Ireland striker had another great chance after 34 minutes following Dalmat's looping cross from the right, but somehow failed to connect properly at the far post and knocked the ball wide.

Davies is one of the men struggling Spurs have missed this season and showed why when he scored Spurs' third after 39 minutes.

John Jackson, playing as an emergency left-back while Mauricio Taricco is suspended, delivered a good cross and Davies popped up unmarked on the six-yard line to sidefoot the ball into the far corner.

Blues boss Bruce, taking charge for the 80th game, must have wondered what had hit his team, who had started the night with the chance of climbing into fifth place in the table.

On another night Keane might have had a hat-trick, but his sights were off again after 51 minutes when he jinked his way between two defenders to the edge of the six-yard box but somehow blazed the ball high over the bar.

Birmingham won a corner after 64 minutes but from that Spurs broke away and almost grabbed a fourth. Dalmat showed more great skill before finding Anderton, who in turn fed Kanoute on the edge of the box. The 12-goal striker could not make it lucky 13, however, as he curled his effort against the bar.

The drama continued as Birmingham were handed a lifeline after 67 minutes in the form of a penalty after Dalmat tripped David Dunn - Savage tucking the ball into the bottom left corner to make it 3-1 and set up a tense finale.

Spurs need not have worried, however, as Keane finally got on the scoresheet with a self-made goal after 78 minutes.

The Republic of Ireland striker cleverly found Kanoute on the right before racing into the six-yard box to finish off the return pass and cap an important win for Spurs.

Teams

Tottenham Keller, Carr, Doherty, King, Jackson, Anderton (Kelly 86), Dalmat (Ricketts 79), Poyet, Davies, Kanoute (Postiga 79), Keane.

Subs Not Used: Hirschfeld, Bunjevcevic.

Goals: Dalmat 10, 24, Davies 39, Keane 79.

Birmingham Taylor, Kenna, Purse, Cunningham, Johnson, Dunn, Savage, Clemence (Hughes 80), Carter (Tebily 45), Morrison, Forssell (Kirovski 83).

Subs Not Used: Bennett, John.

Goals: Savage 68 pen.

Att: 30,016

Ref: B Knight (Kent).