UEAF CUP: Tottenham 1 Slavia 0

Robbie Keane earned Spurs a place in the group stages of the UEFA Cup with a second-half winner at White Hart Lane.

Keane struck his first of the season 10 minutes from time to end Slavia Prague's stubborn resistance.

The Republic of Ireland international drilled a low shot into the bottom corner after Pascal Chimbonda's cross had been chested into his path by substitute Hossam Ghaly.

But coach Martin Jol now has three weeks to find the right midfield blend or face the realistic prospect of an exit from the UEFA Cup in the group phase.

Tottenham's European aspirations will certainly face more testing examinations than that provided by Prague and the inability of Jol's side to make light work of their inexperienced opponents hardly bodes well for the rest of their campaign.

Prague, just as they had done in the opening leg, were content to stifle the life out of the English club and the game.

Admittedly Spurs were hampered by a lengthy injury list but there was little to suggest the north London side are ready to overcome the best the UEFA Cup has to offer in the group phase.

The home side, without a goal in the Barclays Premiership for seven hours and 13 minutes, started brightly but their initial optimism was soon stifled by the resolute Czech defence.

Indeed, Prague soon demonstrated they were in London to make a fight of it when Tomas Hrdlicka fired a shot just wide Paul Robinson's left-hand post in the fifth minute.

Spurs, with Swiss international Reto Ziegler providing some much needed width on the left flank, gave the Czech side plenty to do inside the opening 10 minutes.

In the 27th minute Robbie Keane hit the side netting with a header after a Jenas corner had found him unmarked at the far post.

But it was an isolated chance for Spurs although they did manage to conjure on opening for Mido in the 36th minute only for the Egyptian striker to turn Chimbonda's cross wide of the post.

Five minutes before the break Pavel Fort forced Paul Robinson into his first real save of the game with a clever header.

It was yet another indication that Prague were still in the tie and in the 41st minute Keane made matters worse for Spurs with a glaring miss.

Murphy's cross eluded the Prague defence and fell kindly to the feet of the Republic of Ireland striker eight yards out.

But the Irishman's shot was pushed to safety by Prague goalkeeper Matus Kozacik.

Three minutes after the restart Prague almost concocted an equaliser when Matej Krajcik sent his angled 20-yard drive just inches over Robinson's crossbar.

It was another wake-up call for Jol's side and one they failed to heed as moments later Krajcik sent another drive just beyond the crossbar from a similar range.

In the 61st minute Jol replaced Ziegler with Teemu Tainio and seconds later Spurs almost went ahead on the night but Martin Latka headed the ball clear under pressure from Davenport when Chimbonda's cross looked to have undone the Czech defence.

Tainio's first contribution to the game was to receive a yellow card for dissent after kicking the ball away in the 69th minute following a foul on Krajcik.

But Tottenham's relief was overwhelming in the 80th minute when Keane finally found the net.

It was hardly a convincing performance but Spurs will take their place in the draw for the group stage and Jol will be hoping the treatment room will have become less congested than it currently is.

Keane's goal gave Spurs a 2-0 aggregate lead and, given Prague's limited attacking options, it was always going to be sufficient for the north London side.

Two minutes from time Prague substitute Stanislav Vlcek sent a volley just wide of Robinson's left-hand post to underline their frailties once more.

It was not the last of the action though as Tottenham's Mido contrived to head the ball wide of the post with the goal at his mercy in the final seconds.

Martin Jol admitted Slavia Prague gave them some anxious moments as Tottenham progressed to the group stages of the UEFA Cup.

Spurs were pushed hard all the way by the Czech side and it required a goal 10 minutes from time Robbie Keane to settle their nerves and give them a 2-0 aggregate win.

Jol's side were ravaged by injuries but they still had just enough quality to make it through to Tuesday's draw for the next phase of the competition.

'It was important to get through to the next round. We started off well and had a couple of chances,' said the Spurs manager.

'But then you felt it might be one of those games again only we were leading from the first leg.

'They played better in the second half than they did in Prague but we had five or six good opportunities before Robbie did what we know he can.

'Robbie can score goals out of nothing but they made it very difficult and we made it difficult for ourselves.

'Robbie was telling us how he used to have nightmares about not scoring when he was younger but he's an experienced and gifted player.

'We were waiting for him to score and it wasn't easy for him. Prague made us pretty nervous.

'If we hadn't gone through it would have been a disaster and you cannot say that we did a lot for our confidence. We are still not there yet.'

Slavia coach Karel Jarolim felt his side still gave Spurs a touch too much respect but was satisfied with his team's display.

Jarolim said: 'We wanted to try and keep the scores level for as long as we could and make Spurs nervous.

'In the second half we played more attacking and we had more chances. We could have taken the lead and 1-0 would have made the end more dramatic.

'Tottenham had chances but the golden ones came near the end. In the first half maybe some of our players were influenced by the atmosphere in the stadium.

'But I still think we gave their players too much respect and played the ball wide when we could have pushed it through the defence.

'But overall I am very satisfied with the performance of my team.'

Jol was without captain and centre-half Ledley King but the Dutchman is hopeful he will be back to face Portsmouth in the Barclays Premiership on Sunday.

'He will try to be back. Hopefully he can make it and the same applies to Dimitar Berbatov and Jermain Defoe,' said Jol.

'There is an international game and it would be helpful if they could play. But if they are not fit for us, then they won't play for their countries.

'If they cannot play for us then they are not fit. We cannot stop them being assessed by their country's medical people but Berbatov has not played for us for four weeks so I don't see how he can play two games for his country.'