With Defoe sidelined for the short-term with a hamstring injury and a series of crucial showdowns ahead starting with Wednesday's FA Cup quarter-final replay against Fulham, Redknapp relished Gudjohnsen's performance.

The former Chelsea man, who is on loan from Monaco but may be tempted into a permanent deal by Redknapp this summer, struck the opener 18 seconds into the second half then played a delicious dummy to set up Niko Kranjcar's winner.

In between, Stoke had Dean Whitehead sent off for two yellow cards then levelled matters through a Matthew Etherington penalty. Ricardo Fuller missed a sitter which would have given the home side a shock lead.

Redknapp, who admitted he did not know the exact terms under which Gudjohnsen was signed, said: "I want to keep him here next year. He's got fantastic ability. With Jermain Defoe out injured he's got a big part to play."

Gudjohnsen could go straight into the side for Wednesday's last-eight replay due to more injury concerns over striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, who limped off in the first half and was due to have x-rays on a hamstring problem of his own today.

But with the games stacking up and Spurs managing to cling on to that crucial final Champions League berth, Redknapp will not take Fulham lightly after witnessing their heroics against Juventus at first hand.

Redknapp said: "I went to Fulham the other night and for me it was one of the great European performances. It was a pleasure to be there to see a team turn in a performance like they did.

"To beat Juventus 4-1 was an unbelievable performance and what Roy's done there is fantastic. They're really tough opposition and it is a really difficult game for us but we are at home."

Thanks to Gudjohnsen, Spurs will go into the game in high spirits.

He opened the scoring straight after the re-start when Peter Crouch played him clear on goal in the box with a delightful chip.

Whitehead was sent off four minutes later for clattering Luke Modric in the centre circle, a dismissal described as harsh by Redknapp and which drew a stinging criticism of referee Mike Dean from Stoke boss Tony Pulis.

Pulis revealed he had tried to have Dean removed from the game after two previous incidents this season. He added: "He made a bad decision down at Portsmouth and I wanted to see if we could at least avoid him until the end of the season."

Bizarrely, Spurs threatened to self-destruct with Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Vedran Corluka engaging in a pushing match in the centre circle then the Cameroonian hauled down Dave Kitson to give Stoke a spot-kick.

Etherington converted for the home side and Fuller should have capped a stunning recovery in the 70th minute when the ball bobbled his way across goal but he shot hopelessly over the bar.

The Potters were made to pay seven minutes later when Assou-Ekotto's cross from the left was dummied by Gudjohnsen and allowed to drift across goal to Kranjcar, who fired a sharp right-foot shot past Thomas Sorensen.

Satisfied Redknapp added: "You've done very well if you don't get beaten here at Stoke. They make it very difficult for you here and they never give up. If you don't compete with them you get run over."

Meanwhile Pulis, who delayed the scheduled return of Ryan Shawcross for the first time since his horror challenge on Aaron Ramsey due to an ankle injury, backed Redknapp's side's bid for both league and cup success.

"I think Spurs have as good a chance of anybody and also of getting to the cup final.

"They've got a great chance against Fulham and will fancy their chances. "They've got enough strength in depth to fight on two fronts."