NEW Year, same old story! For Andy Cole's much publicised arrival from Manchester United might have raised spirits on and off the pitch but it failed to provide a change in fortunes as Rovers crashed to their sixth defeat in seven Premiership outings.

As we've seen so many times before this season, Graeme Souness's men once again made most of the running against a Tottenham side who were there for the taking, but when it came down to administering the knock-out blow, the visitors ultimately succumbed to a classic sucker punch from White Hart Lane strong-man Dean Richards.

Souness, understandably, felt kicked in the teeth by his old club afterwards.

But, as he faces up to the very real prospect of a relegation fight over the second half of an increasingly turbulent season, he insists his players have the mental toughness to drag themselves off the ropes.

"We always knew we were going to go through a difficult patch at some point during this campaign and that's happening now," said the Rovers boss.

"It's never nice to lose but we've got to weather the storm because we're in with the big boys and this was a classic example of what the Premier League is all about.

"We made one obvious error which cost us the goal then after that we didn't take our chances or enjoy that bit of luck which might have brought us a goal.

"So we ended up losing 1-0 but I think even the most neutral person would have said we should have got something from today's game."

Desperate to impress on his debut, Cole made an encouraging start to his Blackburn career, even though he failed to deliver the goal to wipe the smile off Glenn Hoddle's face.

For it was Hoddle who once famously said the 30-year-old hit-man needed five chances to score during his tenure as England boss and Cole's international prospects have suffered as a result ever since.

However, despite failing to open his account at Hoddle's expense, Rovers' new club record signing did enough to suggest he's going to be a huge asset in the months ahead.

His pace and agility up front gave Rovers a whole new dimension going forward and but for a stunning save from Kasey Keller -- Brad Friedel's rival for the US number one shirt -- he would have marked his debut with a priceless equaliser.

That said, it could still take a month before we start to see the former Newcastle man at his very best.

Short of match fitness due to his lack of action at Old Trafford, he'll probably need four or five games to regain his sharpness.

But once he develops an understanding with new strike-partner, Matt Jansen, I'm sure the pair will start to terrorise defences.

As it was, both of them suffered from a lack of quality service up front here.

Keith Gillespie and Daimen Duff have both been on fire so far this season but they struggled to stamp their authority on proceedings at the Lane.

With Spurs wingbacks Christian Ziege and Mauricio Taricco pushing forward at every opportunity, Rovers wingmen became too pre-occupied with defensive duties.

And when Souness then switched to a 3-5-2 formation himself in the second half, they finished up playing far too deep to cause any damage.

But they weren't the only ones to have a bad day at the office.

Tugay, normally so efficient, uncharacteristically gave the ball away far too cheaply in midfield as his radar struggled to find its target.

And Rovers, generally, were ponderous going forward, often taking too many touches before finally delivering a cross.

That gave Spurs plenty of time to get organised, defensively, and with Richards a real colossus at the back, they soaked up most of the pressure as the visitors launched a second half onslaught.

But Hoddle's men were anything but special and Rovers could and should have returned north with something to show for their efforts.

In a classic game of two halves, it was Spurs who enjoyed the better of the opening 45 minutes and but for a couple of top-class saves from Friedel, they could have been out of sight.

The big American instinctively denied Teddy Sheringham twice in the space of quarter of an hour while Steffen Freund also shot wide from another glorious opportunity.

But when the all-important goal finally arrived a minute before the break, it was devastatingly simple.

Darren Anderton swung over a corner from the left towards the near post, Friedel failed to get there, and Richards glanced home a brave header to put Spurs ahead.

That stung Rovers into life and they turned up the heat in the second half.

Tugay grazed the post with an exquisite effort from 25 yards before Henning Berg headed straight at Keller from Gillespie's corner.

But the defining moment of the game then arrived in the 79th minute.

Substitute Craig Hignett whipped over a corner from the right, Cole rose majestically at the far post, but as Rovers fans held their breath, Keller somehow reacted brilliantly to scoop his effort off the line.

After that, you began to sense it wasn't Rovers' day and Spurs somehow held out to send the visitors crashing to a third straight defeat.

Now Cole and his team-mates need to stand up and be counted over the next couple of weeks if they plan to steer clear of danger.

And, like Souness, Henning Berg insists it's vital they pull together and keep the faith.

"It's going to be a long, hard season but we just have to pull together as a team.

"As long as we keep playing like we did in the second half then we can turn it around.

"It was a scrappy game and we lost to a bad goal but we can't afford to panic."

TOTTENHAM...1

ROVERS...0

Scorer: Richards 45

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