Glenn Hoddle endured a nightmare return to Southampton as his Tottenham side were beaten by a single goal from James Beattie at the St Mary's Stadium.

Beattie struck in the 56th minute when he headed past Neil Sullivan after a long clearance from Paul Williams.

The victory was the Saints' third in four matches, moving them out of the bottom three in the Premiership.

But for Spurs, the defeat, their second in two matches, was a major blow in their push for a European place.

Hoddle, who left the Saints to take charge of Spurs in April, was enthusiastically jeered by the home fans, along with former favourites Dean Richards and assistant John Gorman.

Indeed, the biggest cheer of a lacklustre first half came with the peculiar sight of two diminutive Scotsmen - Gorman and Southampton manager Gordon Strachan - squaring up to each other on the touchline.

But it was the travelling Spurs contingent who had more reason to be satisfied going into the interval.

Christian Ziege brought the best out of Paul Jones when his left-foot shot was well saved by the Wales international on 25 minutes. And Les Ferdinand should have put the visitors in front, but he blasted his 10-yard strike wide of goal.

However, a stern half-time talk from Strachan paid dividends as his side picked up the tempo at the start of the second half.

Although Neil Sullivan denied Anders Svensson with a magnificent save on 48 minutes, he could not prevent Beattie scoring in the 56th minute.

The former Blackburn striker latched on to a long clearance from Williams, heading beyond the on-rushing Sullivan into the empty net.

Marian Pahars was unlucky not to double the lead in the 65th minute when his excellent one-two with Chris Marsden was well saved by Sullivan. But despite Spurs' push for an equaliser, the home defence stood firm until the final whistle for three well earned points.