Reading debutant Greg Halford was adjudged to have handled inside the penalty area in the 39th minute but Coppell insisted referee Alan Wiley had rejected Tottenham's initial appeal before changing his mind.

Robbie Keane stepped up to slam home the penalty and Spurs held on to record a victory that pushes them into sixth place in the Barclays Premiership.

Coppell said: "When I first saw it I thought the ball just sprung up and hit him on the hand. I thought it was really harsh.

"But having seen it on a replay it is difficult to isolate. My players are saying that the ball came up and hit him on the hand and I cannot deny that.

"But there's almost like a secondary movement as well. The first appeal went up and the referee shook his head and said no and then there was another appeal and he just seemed to change his mind.

"Then as the away team, as the beaten team, you think all kinds of sinister motives. In the second half the ball hit Michael Dawson on the hand, he didn't know anything about it but it hit him on the hand, so by the letter of the law, could we have had a penalty?

"I think as little Reading there's not much chance of us getting it. We are not moaning too much. We had enough time to get something from the match, but to lose it on that leaves a funny taste."

Spurs dominated the game and but for the first-half heroics of goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann would have won by a much bigger margin.

Tottenham were unlucky not to take a second minute lead when they carved Reading's defence open with a slick four-man move.

Pascal Chimbonda's long ball was nodded down to Aaron Lennon by Dimitar Berbatov and when the England winger laid the ball into the path of Steed Malbranque, the French midfielder's shot cannoned off the outside of the post.

Seconds later Keane was denied a certain goal by the brilliance of Hahnemann.

Bulgaria striker Berbatov was again the architect of the chance when he chested the ball into the Irishman's path.

However, Keane's volley was superbly saved by Hahnemann at point-blank range.

In the 11th minute it was the turn of Berbatov to be denied by the Reading goalkeeper when he pushed away the striker's effort.

But the visitors hit back moments later when Leroy Lita's firm header struck Paul Robinson's left-hand post.

Keane wasted another chance to put the home side in front in the 19th minute when Malbranque had again put him in the clear.

This time Keane tried to chip the ball over the Reading goalkeeper but his execution left a lot to be desired and Hahnemann comfortably dealt with it.

Moments later Tottenham defender Ricardo Rocha collected the game's first yellow card for a foul on Lita.

The subsequent free-kick almost brought Reading an opening goal but Dave Kitson's powerful shot was superbly saved by Robinson.

Tottenham's approach play was often far too intricate and Reading continued to deal with the best the home side could muster.

Time and again Jol's side wanted to make one pass too many and their attempts to find a way through the Reading rearguard were thwarted by their own over-elaborate ambitions.

Spurs finally took the lead with the controversial penalty in the 39th minute and almost made it two just before the break when Berbatov drove a free-kick over the defensive wall and towards the top corner but once again Hahnemann was equal to the task as he flung himself to his right.

The American's exploits in the opening half had obviously left him with an injury as he failed to appear for the second period and was replaced by Adam Federici.

Tottenham continued to be the dominant force and Aaron Lennon deserved better following a 60-yard run in the 51st minute.

The England winger appeared to have run out of ideas when he reached the edge of the Reading penalty area but his low drive flashed wide of the far post with Berbatov unable to provide the required touch.

In the 64th minute, Berbatov wasted a glorious chance to increase Tottenham's lead when Lennon put him in a clear scoring position with a clever pass.

The Bulgaria striker, one of the successes for Spurs this season, fired wide of the target to the dismay of the home fans.

In the 68th minute, Spurs wasted a further chance when Malbranque sent a rising drive just wide of Federici's right-hand upright.

Federici demonstrated his own agility with a fabulous save to deny Berbatov in the 76th minute as Tottenham failed to take their chances.

The England striker Jermain Defoe, on as a replacement for Keane, then wasted two glorious opportunities in the final 10 minutes as Jol's side were made to hang on for all three points.

Despite the loss, Coppell was more than delighted with the performance of his side.

He added: "I am pleased with what we did bearing in mind I look upon Tottenham as a top-five team. They are on the verge of becoming one of the top four teams.

"I look at the depth of the squad and everything about the club and the theatre they have at White Hart Lane.

"This was the first time many of my players had been here and we've come an awful long way in a short space of time.

"But I thought we had a real go and some of our play, our creation of chances, was pleasing. If we play like that on a consistent basis we won't go too far wrong and we've got to remember where we've come from.

"It is a shame for Greg that this game will be remembered for the penalty rather than other contributions but I was pleased with his debut in such a theatre of football."

Defender Halford admitted Wiley's decision had left a bitter taste on what should have been a day of personal celebration.

He said: "The penalty was a bit hard as I felt it was ball to hand and not hand to ball.

"The referee shook his head at first and then all of a sudden he has given it, which was a bit strange.

"He didn't say he changed his mind. He said the ball had changed direction purely because it hit my hand.

"It leaves a bit of a bitter feeling but these things happen."

Spurs manager Martin Jol, who now takes his troops to Seville for their UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg on Thursday, was pleased his side managed to record their first clean sheet since October.

He did not think the penalty was significant in terms of the result as Spurs squandered a host of chances as they climbed into sixth place in the Barclays Premiership.

Jol said: "I don't think it was only about the penalty as we created 15 chances.

"We had three chances in the first 15 minutes with Steed Malbranque, Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov all having one-on-ones with the keeper.

"They had three chances over the whole 90 minutes and so I think our win was well deserved.

"Reading are a very good team. Sometimes they put seven or eight players into the final third and you don't see that very often in the Premiership.

"They looked dangerous up front so to keep a clean sheet is okay - I can't remember the last time we did that.

"But Jermain Defoe was only on the pitch for 15 minutes and had three good chances as well as a good goal ruled out. I can't complain about that in hindsight but had we drawn I would have done.

"Six weeks ago we were with the Manchester Citys and Newcastles and they are still there and we are up to sixth so I am happy."