Martin Jol saluted the resilience of his Tottenham players after storming back from 4-1 down against Aston Villa to avoid an 'unthinkable' defeat on the club's 125th anniversary.

The hosts were cruising when Craig Gardner scored their fourth just before the hour mark, only for Spurs to rescue a point in stoppage time.

Managers continue to be linked with Jol's position and Spurs are still in the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League but the Dutchman was pleased with the determination of his players.

''At half-time we said we have to play for he shirt and give everything - they did that,'' he said.

''It was relief in the end. A win would have been better. I don't even want to think about it if would have lost.''

Even a draw will not stop managers getting linked with Jol's position.

''I thought about my future for the last six weeks so that's nothing new. I think about my future because I want to be better and better.

As for his position being under threat, he said: ''I don't know. It's not up to me.''

Spurs paraded their legends before the game but it was not until they fell 4-1 down that the current side gave the stars of previous eras anything to cheer about.

Jol added: ''It was a night about football. I don't want to think about negative things. It's not about results or the league, it's about the celebration.

''We spoiled that, that was awful to concede the goals like we did before.

''But my family are all in the marines and a commander never leaves his troops. If he does that he's lost. I kept my head cool and they have to do it. The only thing I can do is make substitutions.

Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring with a header from a corner before Martin Laursen embarrassed England goalkeeper Paul Robinson twice.

Robinson dropped a corner for the first and Laursen's finish went through him for the second.

''He said 'it's my mistake, I'll hold my hands up','' said Jol.

Gabriel Agbonlahor and Gardner added to the scoring before Spurs staged their comeback.

Pascal Chimbonda gave them a glimmer of hope by following-up after Jermain Defoe hit the post, then Robbie Keane tucked away a penalty after Marlon Harewood brought down Darren Bent.

Then came Younes Kaboul's stoppage-time equaliser, lashing into the roof of the net, although Defoe appeared to be offside when the ball bounced off him back to the French youngster.

Villa boss Martin O'Neill was upbeat despite the defeat, although he felt Defoe was offside in the build-up to Kaboul's leveller. ''Defoe was offside about 15 times in the last minute,'' he joked.