David Nugent gave the visitors the lead with his first goal in the Premier League after 59 minutes but Defoe levelled 11 minutes later against his former club.

"Both sides had chances so I suppose it's a fair result," Defoe said.

"David (James) is a fantastic goalkeeper and kept them in it a few times.

"Hopefully I can get a few more goals and keep us moving up the table. I enjoyed the game today and it would have been nice if we could have won."

Much of the focus before the game was on the fans following the abuse chanted at Sol Campbell in the reverse fixture at Fratton Park.

But James felt the lively atmosphere did not overstep the mark this time.

"Before the game the concern was that it was going to be in bad taste but it wasn't, the fans let us know what they thought of us but it was okay," the England goalkeeper told Sky Sports 1.

As for the game, James added: "Sometimes it was backs against the walls but to get a point keeps them below us and maybe climbs us a place in the table too."

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp felt his side should have won the game but praised his players for showing character after going a goal behind.

"We missed chance after chance late on, you're never going to get a better chance to win a match," Redknapp said.

"I thought we showed great character, we lost two players in the first half - Ledley King has a torn hamstring and is going to be out long term - and three (Aaron Lennon, Vedran Corluka and Heurelho Gomes) were not fit to play on at half-time.

"They could have easily hidden but we came back and hit them with everything and I thought the lads were fantastic."

Asked about Darren Bent's glaring miss, Redknapp added on Sky Sports 1: "He should have scored, it was an open goal, but there's nothing we can do about that.

"It was a bad miss but if we continue to play like that we will be okay."

Portsmouth boss Tony Adams was pleased with a point, adding: "I was nervous today but my team didn't let me down.

"I thought they were very resilient and gave Tottenham a very difficult game. I'm really proud of the way they performed."

Asked about Nugent's goal, Adams added: "He's playing out of position really and it takes time.

"I've given him a bit of a run and he works extremely hard and does a lot for the team. I'm delighted he's got his goal today."