Mabbutt injury spoils Spurs' bright start

Blackburn Rovers 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Armstrong 33, 67 Atten dance: 26,96

Serious injuries to two Tottenham central defenders, Gary Mabbutt and his replacement Stuart Nethercott, marred a victory brimming with early season promise. Both players were taken to hospital, Mabbutt suffering a fractured shin bone and Nethercott needing stitches to a deep shin gash.

Despite these sickening blows to morale, the visitors kept their composure and Chris Armstrong's potency in front of goal was in marked contrast to the impotence of the post-Shearer Blackburn attack. But a clearly distraught Tottenham manager Gerry Francis said that the injury to his captain - who will celebrate his 35th birthday on Friday - had cast a huge cloud over the victory. "It has soured our day," he said. "There wasn't anything wrong with the tackle [by Blackburn's Graham Fenton] and Gary even felt he could run on it at the side of the pitch. But he ran two steps and heard a click."

Mabbutt had just signed a new two-year contract with Spurs, the club he has served wifor 14 years. Francis added: "I don't even want to think about how long Gary will be out because my only concern at the moment is for him." Mabbutt had limped out of a block challenge with Fenton and tried to test his injury on the touchline, collapsing in a heap when weight was placed on his left leg. Minutes later, an angry Nethercott was shepherded from the field with blood flowing from his shin.

Two Tottenham set-piece efforts were closely followed by their opening strike, Armstrong exploiting space in the home defence to meet a chipped cross from David Howells with a firm diving header through the legs of Tim Flowers.

Howells also played a part in the visitors' second goal, releasing Ruel Fox to the by-line to deliver another penetrating cross. Armstrong was again the first to react, a high stab squeezing the ball through the transfixed Flowers.

This, although against the balance of play, was an almost inevitable lesson in the art of effective counter-attack. Tottenham were always more composed in possession and, while Blackburn delivered a late flurry with Colin Hendry both heading and shooting close, the result was rarely in question. Francis was delighted with such a polished display but lamented that defensive resources were now stretched due to the injuries.

His Blackburn counterpart, Ray Harford, could only draw comfort from the debut of Yorgos Donis, admitting that there is a problem in finding a recipient for the gifted Greek's crosses. On several occasions the perfect ball was provided only to find the predictably glaring void left by Alan Shearer. "We have become a little bit predictable. 'George' looks as though he can get behind people and deliver," Harford explained. "Things could have been different if we had had someone on the end of them. It hasn't damaged morale but the result has damaged confidence. We didn't get balls in to the feet of the front player."

Without the injured Chris Sutton as Shearer's obvious replacement, the home side still started the brighter. Fenton and Kevin Gallacher were handed the poisoned chalice and while their effervescence irritated Tottenham, the visitors were rarely alarmed.

Ironically, the two enforced substitutions in the heart of the Tottenham defence moulded the visitors into a more effective attacking unit with Clive Wilson pressing forward.