Jol must get through to Defoe

As it was his fifth booking this term he automatically receives a one-game suspension and misses the trip to Manchester City on 11 December.

Jol said: "He's an important player and we shall miss him. We had talked about it and he'd promised not to do it. We'll have to talk to him again."

Defoe's 49th-minute goal - his sixth in seven matches and his 10th of the season - underlined his value to the team at a time when Jol is trying to rebuild their credibility. "He took his goal well," said Jol. "He's a very decisive striker."

Jol is insistent that Defoe will be staying at White Hart Lane though there have been rumblings about a new contract and, with the January transfer window approaching, one or two big clubs have cast envious eyes towards Tottenham.

His loss would be a profound blow because his pace, his eye for goal and his ability to run with the ball gives shape and purpose to Tottenham's erratic approach play.

Yesterday, for instance, Boro's passing game in the first half was far more effective than Tottenham's, though whenever Defoe had the ball at his feet he created panic and uncertainty in their defence.

In fact, Middlesbrough controlled the match until the referee sent off left-back Franck Queudrue - his sixth red card in four years - for a two-footed challenge on Noe Pamarot in the 39th minute. I felt the tackle looked worse than it actually was, though there is no doubt it was a foul.

Boro manager Steve McClaren said: "We shall appeal. It was the first bad tackle of the game and I thought the referee was too quick to show the red card. I don't think a red card was justified but the referee's decision spoiled the game as a spectacle. We were in control of the match at that point and the referee cost us a win." Early in the second half Spurs took full advantage of their extra man when Pedro Da Silva Mendes broke unchallenged from midfield, swept into the Boro area and crossed from the right to the near post.

Having spotted the space at the near post Defoe raced to meet the ball and clipped it past Mark Schwarzer - a classic striker's goal.

In the 65th minute Defoe had a great chance to score his second, but he lifted his shot yards over the bar from inside the penalty area.

Unbeaten in their last seven league matches, Boro's 10 men staged a fightback though they found England's Paul Robinson and Ledley King in defiant mood. King was especially diligent and commanding in the air and will be pleased with the way he helped suppress the threat of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka.

But it was all over in the 76th minute when Schwarzer, moving forward to meet a back pass from Ray Parlour, fired his clearance at the advancing Frederic Kanoute. The ball hit the striker and bounced into the net.

Kanoute looked almost too embarrassed to claim the goal. But, when you're Tottenham and you're trying to end a run of six defeats, any goal will do. "Some days you get away