'It was a bit of a scrap in the second half but we really asserted ourselves, which has been lacking. I'm pleased we were able to grind it out. It proved that we can do that when we need to.
'If we'd not won these last two matches, we'd have been right down there in the dogfight. Now we're in mid-table, only a point behind Newcastle - not bad when you think what's gone on at the club recently.'
Carrick won two England caps before being relegated with West Ham and surely harbours ambitions of adding to them. But he said: 'I can't think about that too much, who knows what might happen?
'I'm just happy to be back in the Premiership again, with a great set of lads at a massive club, enjoying my football and getting fit. There's no comparison with the First Division, or whatever it's called now.'
Brown knows that, and his determination to succeed at Spurs after giving up on the Bramall Lane promotion dream was exemplified by the long, frantic diagonal run to create Keane's 55th-minute winner.
'I was knackered afterwards,' Carrick's midfield partner admitted, but Brown was able to steer the ball across a poorly-defended penalty area for Keane to fire home before embarking on his usual tumbling celebration.
His mood turned darker after being replaced by centre-half Anthony Gardner as Jol shut up shop. Keane quit Leeds because Terry Venables would not guarantee a starting place, and his nomadic career could change course again with Everton and Birmingham ready to tempt the unhappy striker next month.
Rovers manager Mark Hughes badly needs somebody with Keane's scoring pedigree up front if floundering Blackburn are to keep daylight between themselves and the bottom three.
Only once did they threaten a goal, when Paul Gallagher was denied by the kind of save that makes Robinson England's No 1 and made it inevitable that he would leave Leeds once they went down. Paul Dickov made life difficult for Ledley King's defence - and collected an unwarranted booking from Mike Dean, who was as below par as the match - but there was no real spark; no cutting edge.
Skipper Barry Ferguson had one of his least inspired games, and when David Thompson came off the bench - for Tugay, who received an ovation, rather than Ferguson - he failed to regenerate the team.
Andy Todd briefly recalled memories of his England international father Colin with a sublime performance at the back only to become one of those at fault for the 'terrible' Tottenham goal that left Hughes fuming.
He said: 'We didn't deal with it and it cost us the game. But our home form is a major concern and we have to address that. Winning at home is expected but it's not happening. We have to make it happen.'
