Fulham have spent most of this season fighting off relegation as their north London rivals have been setting Europe alight in the Champions League while pushing for a place in the top four.

But it was Fulham who were by far the better side at Craven Cottage today as they raced into an unassailable 4-0 lead by half-time.

Danny Murphy opened the scoring from the spot after 11 minutes before Michael Dawson was sent off minutes later for pulling back Moussa Dembele in the box.

The Fulham captain made no mistake with his second penalty before Brede Hangeland and Dembele made it 4-0 by the break.

Tottenham almost came back from 4-0 against Inter Milan in the San Siro last year with 10 men but never looked like recovering today, much to Redknapp's disappointment.

"Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong," the 63-year-old said.

"We gave two horrendous goals away and had Michael Dawson sent off and gave two penalties away. How do you come back from that?

"You can't keep coming back from those situations."

Tottenham captain Dawson, usually such a reliable member of Redknapp's side, had a nightmare in the 13 minutes he was on the pitch.

His poor pass allowed Fulham in in the run up to Fulham's first penalty and he then pulled back Dembele's shirt to gift Fulham their second penalty and earn a red card in the process.

"Michael started sloppily today," Redknapp said.

"He gave two goals away which is not like him. He is usually fantastic for us but he got off to a terrible start today.

"I haven't seen a replay of any of the decisions but I thought the second one was harsh. Michael thinks so too."

Mark Hughes, whose position as Fulham boss had been under question before Christmas, was delighted with his side's ruthless first-half display.

"We wanted to make it hostile coming out of the blocks for them and we managed to force a few errors from their defenders and we capitalised on those situations," the Welshman said.

"They were hampered by the sending off but it was still up to us to put the game beyond them, which we did. Being 4-0 up at half-time is more than you could have hoped for."

The win sets up a fifth-round tie with either Bolton or Wigan at Craven Cottage and Hughes is relishing the prospect of a cup run with the west Londoners.

He said: "We just wanted a home draw. Ideally you would want lower league opposition if you could but we've got another Premier league team which is going to be difficult but we don't have any fear of facing anybody here and we are hoping to progress.

"Anyone coming to the Cottage will have to play well to beat us. At the moment we are enjoying our football."

Dawson's suspension has left Tottenham short at the back, with Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Younes Kaboul all injured.

"We are down to two central defenders," Redknapp added.

"Kaboul is having an operation on his knee and could be out for six weeks.

"William Gallas has a hip injury. Ledley King and Woodgate are not fit. We have one spare defender on our books in (Vedran) Corluka.

"Otherwise I only have Sebastien Bassong if Dawson is going to be suspended for three games."

Redknapp denied the shortage would lead him into a search for a defender before tomorrow's transfer deadline and also ruled out a bid for a new striker after Robbie Keane.

"We won't get a striker in," said Redknapp, who denied lodging another bid for Newcastle's Andy Carroll.

The Spurs boss also admitted his attempts to sign West Ham's Scott Parker looked set to fail.

"Scott Parker? No chance," Redknapp added.

"I love Scott Parker but we haven't got a chance with him."