No honour as lucky Spurs reach Wembley

Spurs are on their way to Wembley but there was no glory or distinction in reaching their second consecutive Carling Cup final. With two minutes of extra time remaining, the holders were 3-0 down and heading out of the competition on the away goals rule, a disgrace when you consider they led Championship club Burnley 4-1 after the first leg.

The late goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Jermain Defoe staved off humiliation for the time being but the lack of heart, character and willpower in this Spurs squad is alarming. Only the outstanding Michael Dawson and, to a lesser extent, Jonathan Woodgate, Luka Modric and Jamie O'Hara, earned their huge wages at Turf Moor. The other seven players in the starting XI simply did not cut it and some will fear for their futures.

It would be interesting to know Juande Ramos's thoughts on the situation. When the Spaniard was sacked in late October with the club bottom of the table, the blame for their dreadful start to the season was laid hurriedly at his door.

But after a strong start under Redknapp, Spurs' recent displays have been similar to the worst ones under Ramos - and many of the players who let down Ramos are falling short again with Redknapp.

David Bentley, so vocal in his criticism of Ramos, has been no better for Redknapp. The Spurs boss had expected an improvement from the former Blackburn player - who was barracked throughout by Burnley fans for his Rovers past - but he was left disappointed.

Right-back Chris Gunter does not yet look good enough to play at the top level and it is no surprise to hear Redknapp would like to send him out on loan. At left-back, Benoit Assou-Ekotto is prone to costly losses of concentration, while Gareth Bale is not strong enough defensively to persuade Redknapp to play him there.

Redknapp's concerns about a lack of strength in the goalkeeping department were proved by debutant Ben Alnwick's uncertain showing. The 22-year-old, deputising for the injured Heurelho Gomes, was at fault for Burnley's first and third goals.

Redknapp admitted it had been the toughest night of his football career and it was easy to see why. With Spurs fighting for Premier League survival, being knocked out of the Carling Cup in this fashion would have had a corrosive effect on morale and left Redknapp with a huge task to revive his players and ensure Spurs stayed up.

Alnwick's positioning was poor for the opening goal, allowing Robbie Blake to inflict the first blow by curling a free-kick inside the near post. Blake beat Gunter far too easily to create the second for Chris McCann in the 73rd minute and when Alnwick dropped another Blake set-piece at the feet of substitute Jay Rodriguez, Spurs were heading out of the competition. Redknapp's side had clear chances to win the tie on aggregate in the second half, with Bale, Defoe and Pavlyuchenko all culpable but Burnley - with only one win in their previous seven matches - were much the better side.

So when Pavlyuchenko turned in Assou-Ekotto's cut-back two minutes from the end of extra time, with Defoe then making things safe moments later, everyone at Turf Moor was left with a sense of injustice.

Second-half substitute Pavlyuchenko has scored in all six of the cup matches he has played in since joining Spurs for £14million and he will have the chance to maintain that record against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday. He stopped short of saying so publicly but Redknapp would surely breathe a sigh of relief were United to knock out his side in a dress rehearsal for the Carling Cup final at Wembley on 1 March.

Expect plenty more activity from Redknapp, who has already spent close to £30m on Defoe and Wilson Palacios, before the transfer window closes, with Dawson and O'Hara added to an injury list which already contains Gomes, skipper Ledley King, Vedran Corluka, Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas.

If it is skill, courage and commitment he is seeking, Redknapp could do worse than pick up the phone to his Burnley counterpart Owen Coyle and try to sign their midfield trio Joey Gudjonsson, Wade Elliott and McCann, as well as veteran right-back Graham Alexander.

If both sides continue to play like this, they will be playing against each other next season - if Burnley fail to win promotion to the Premier League, that is.