Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp admits it was a battle overcoming West Bromwich Albion.

A solitary second-half strike from Jermain Defoe was enough to settle a drab affair with the visitors' defensive game-plan frustrating Redknapp's men.

The Spurs boss said: "It was a hard game. They came - they had lots of injuries as well - but Roy set them up and they were difficult to break down.

"There were lots of bodies in there and there was nowhere to go. We had the ball for a lot of the game but we were struggling for the breakthrough because they defended well and looked to hit us on the break when they could.

"They made it very hard for us. We created less chances than in any other game this season tonight and the lads were tired, they were leggy.

"They're not used to playing that many games in such a short space of time - people like Luka (Modric) said he's never felt so tired in there.

"It was hard, if you look at the results over the holiday period you get some funny results, lots of people getting injured, tired legs and it gets more and more difficult to play with the energy and type of pace we normally play with.

"We were getting wide and crossing balls which suited them because the centre-halves were dealing with most things and they got bodies back.

"In the end it was a great win for us, you're not always going to smash teams that come here and play flying football and look fantastic. It was a tough game and we picked up three big points."