We must be approaching Bale o'clock? Feels like as good a time as any to ease Gareth Bale in with little pressure on Tottenham now given their healthy advantage.

No sign of movement on the bench yet, however.

Harry Kane turns and runs towards the West Ham goal and with opposition players backing off he has a pop but his shot is turned behind by Lukasz Fabianski.

Soon after, Son Heung-min's ball into the box is headed behind by Fabián Balbuena and the subsequent corner is cleared.

Steven Bergwijn's cross from the left is much too close to Lukasz Fabianski and the West Ham keeper holds at his near post.

At the other end, Vladimir Coufal plays a similar ball in from the right that is equally comfortable pickings for Hugo Lloris.

Odel: Spurs have played good football, scored good goals, had good players and had good managers before. Guess what they don't have? A trophy.. This season we want more than attractive football. We want a trophy. COYS.

It has been better from West Ham in this half but not better in the sense that you feel that they are going to get back three goals.

Tottenham have certainly eased off and you feel they can find another gear if they feel their healthy advantage is in any way under threat.

Piemontemio: Re Tim in Marlow - I was one of the doubters: anyone but Mourinho. But I was wrong - so far at least - and much happier that way. Man Utd fans gladly embraced The Chosen One and were also wrong, but I'd wager they were less pleased to be wrong!

The ever dangerous Tomas Soucek gets up to meet a cross and directs his header towards goal but Spurs have players in the way to get a block in.

Did Tottenham use up all their attacking threat in those first 16 minutes? They've not been as dangerous going forward since then.

Harry Kane works some space on the edge of the West Ham area but gets his shot all wrong and balloons an effort well over.

Stephen Warnock
Ex-Liverpool defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

Hugo Lloris put his hands on his head as if to say: "I can't believe you have missed that!"

It was under the crossbar. Pablo Fornals has a simple chance, it comes at him quite quick but he heads it over from a yard out.

Hugo's reaction was comical.

Paul Collins: Some people are seriously deluded. Spurs best attack in league? Then why did they finish 24 goals worse off than Liverpool last season even with Kane and Son? No one knows for sure how Bale will be either. Three-and-a-half games unbeaten and people go mad. Laughable.

Good start to the second half by West Ham as they look to claw back a goal.

Michail Antonio gets away down the left and clips a ball to the far post where Pablo Fornals has ghosted in but he heads over.

Looks a shocking miss at first but a slight deflection off Moussa Sissoko caught out Fornals.

Rachel T: Bale will be warming up on the touch line just to troll the opposition. Love it.

We've passed the 45 seconds mark in the second half and there's not been a goal yet.

This Mourinho chap is a bit too defensive for my liking.

Right then, second half - what have you got?

We're back under way.

Stephen Warnock
Ex-Liverpool defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

You've got to bring Gareth Bale on for match fitness. You need to get minutes into his legs. Why delay? This could be a great training exercise. A chance to integrate him into the way you want him to play.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson, speaking to BBC Sport: "The quality of the defensive performance and effort they put in against a good team. We defended our way almost to a very good three points. It is something that can happen, in the first or the 95th minute - if the opponent have the ball around your area it can fall kindly or get the fortune with a deflection, which I'm sure they would say is fully deserved.

"We started to show our teeth at times in the first half. But unfortunately there is always something in a game when you lead 1-0 and the opponent is taking the game to you, there is something that brings a siege mentality to see the game through. Had we got the second goal you would have seen a different mentality, But we decided on the siege mentality and it almost saw us through.

"There is a lot more we have to give. We ran into a Brighton team that played well today. We were good enough defensively and with our discipline and spirit to come away with three points but we wouldn't be whooping for joy saying that is all our tactical work solved. Luckily I am now doing it with a group with competition for places."

On VAR: "It has been opted for. VAR was opted for. It was seen as better and ruling out clear errors of judgment. As it happens I don't know that there are so many from the on-field officials. It has brought us into a different world where when a goal is scored you wit to see if it will be chalked off. There are always going to degrees after a round of games of managers feeling they were either harshly or less harshly treated."

The players are on their way back out, so I'll just squeeze in a bit of reaction from Roy Hodgson to the 1-1 draw with Brighton earlier today...

Up there with Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse in Gone Fishing as the best modern day double act.