Jermain Defoe boosted Tottenham's claims for a Champions League spot with a brace against former club Charlton. The striker fired a deflected shot past Thomas Myhre in the 14th minute before Spurs added another when Jermaine Jenas ran through to net before half-time.

Defoe, hoping to impress the watching England assistant boss Tord Grip, latched onto Tom Huddlestone's pass to make it three shortly after the break.

Jerome Thomas fired a consolation for Charlton with 20 minutes remaining.

Spurs had been stuttering in their quest for fourth spot in the Premiership but the first-half showing will have heartened fans anxious that arch-rivals Arsenal were only a point behind following their win at Birmingham.

Defoe, who has spent much of the season warming the bench, will have felt some relief, too, after seven games without a goal.

He had already looked busy before he gave the home side an early lead.

But he finally broke the deadlock when he latched onto a pass from Jenas and fired the ball past Myhre with the help of a deflection off Luke Young.

Spurs dominated the remainder of the first half but were guilty of over-elaboration in front of goal.

However, they increased their lead five minutes before the break when Robbie Keane found Jenas with a defence-splitting pass.

The former Newcastle midfielder was able to shake off Chris Powell before prodding the ball past Myhre.

Only then did the Addicks come to life, Marcus Bent seeing his dipping effort hit the bar just before the break.

But any hopes Charlton had of making an early impression after the interval were extinguished after just 45 seconds.

Huddlestone, on for the injured Teemu Tainio, played the ball through to Defoe, who clipped the ball over the advancing Myhre.

Herman Hreidarsson stopped Keane with a last-ditch tackle and then a goal-line clearance as Spurs threatened to run away with the game.

But Thomas, who had entered the fray as a substitute, pulled a goal back for Charlton after twisting past Paul Stalteri and firing inside Paul Robinson's near post.

Tottenham manager Martin Jol on his striker situation: "I think Jermain and Robbie can play together if they work the defence. It is about balance. "If Jermain is going to be in that sort of form, there is no point keeping him on the bench.

"Rasiak came in and had his chance but did not do well but Jermain had a lot more rhythm than he did at Fulham last week.

"We had a young side out and they did well. I certainly think we deserved to win."