Tottenham strengthened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League with a comfortable win against Blackburn.

Spurs squandered plenty of chances before Jermain Defoe pounced, tapping in at the back post after Vedran Corluka had flicked on from a corner.

Roman Pavlyuchenko doubled the score with a long-range shot which bounced underneath goalkeeper Jason Brown.

Christopher Samba's header halved the deficit, but Pavlyuchenko sealed victory with a tap-in from six yards.

Tottenham were rarely troubled as they secured a third straight Premier League win which moved the Londoners three points ahead of fifth-placed Manchester City, albeit having played two games more than their rivals, who visit Sunderland on Sunday.

Indeed, excluding Liverpool, Spurs have played more games than all the teams chasing the coveted final Champions League spot, but they are undoubtedly a team in form.

Tottenham should have gone into the break with more than a goal advantage, with striker Pavlyuchenko scuffing a volley wide early on and then failing to divert a menacing Gareth Bale cross on target, even though he was just yards from goal.

The majority of Tottenham's attacking threat came from Bale, with the Welshman whizzing past Rovers' 35-year-old full-back Michel Salgado with ease to provide plenty of ammunition into the box.

Blackburn, recently criticised by Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez for their pragmatic style, perhaps did not quite play with the flair of Barcelona - not many do - but, in the first half at least, the team from Lancashire did seem to have been released from their shackles.

That might be because the threat of relegation does not seem to be quite so imminent, or because David Dunn, Pascal Chimbonda and Brett Emerton, the more adventurous players in Rovers' squad, had returned to the starting line-up.

Rovers had their chances. Martin Olsson should have at least found the target when Chimbonda cut back a great ball from the left wing, while Dunn, who seemed to be barged off the ball by Corluka, had a decent penalty appeal turned down by referee Howard Webb.

It all seemed to be going to plan for the visitors until the predatory Defoe sprung into action late in the first half to score his 23rd goal of the season.

The odds were against a Blackburn fightback, bearing in mind they have won only one game away from home this season, and their task was made all the more difficult when Pavlyuchenko doubled Spurs' lead after the break.

In a blistering counter-attack, Defoe found Pavlyuchenko, whose low shot from the edge of the area squirmed underneath Brown.

Tottenham perhaps should have been awarded a penalty when Bale was brought down by the tormented Salgado, but referee Webb instead awarded Blackburn a goal-kick, which was greeted by a cacophony of boos from the home fans.

Bale had another penalty appeal turned down, in what was an eventful match for the referee, before Rovers clawed a goal back when Samba jumped unchallenged at the back post to head home a Morten Gamst Pedersen corner.

However, Pavlyuchenko settled any Spurs nerves when he converted a terrific Bale cross from close range for his seventh goal in his last five appearances.

Nikola Kalinic seemed to have pulled a goal back with a terrific turn and shot into the top corner, but referee Webb deemed the Croatian had fouled Michael Dawson in the build-up to the strike.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp: "I felt coming here was going to be a very difficult game, people expect you to win and it doesn't always work out that way.

"They're a difficult side, they're in good form so to pick up three points is great for us.

"Gareth Bale is such an outstanding player. People forget he's only a boy. When I came here I felt he needed to learn the game, I didn't feel he'd really been taught the game.

"He had natural ability, but there was so much of his game that needed working on. I feel he's matured, he's progressed, he's got stronger and he just looks a fantastic player."