Spurs' underwhelming start to the season took a turn for the worse with Wednesday (AEST) Carabao Cup elimination by League Two's Colchester United, exacerbating the aura of frustration at the club.

But it showed admirable character to see off Saints in tricky circumstances.

Tanguy Ndombele's opener was soon forgotten when Serge Aurier's sending off for two bookings was followed by a diabolical Lloris mistake that gifted Danny Ings an equaliser.

But Kane converted after a devastating break at the end of the first half and 10-man Spurs managed to hold on in the face of intense pressure after the break, with Lloris making a couple of fine saves to go some way to making up for his earlier calamity.

It was not a match synonymous with displays of fine goalkeeping, as the hosts opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Angus Gunn let Ndombele's left-footed strike from the edge of the box in despite it being almost straight at him.

Lloris then contrived to take the focus away from everyone else 15 minutes later, comically failing to clear under pressure from Ings, who bundled over the line after the goalkeeper's attempted 'Cruyff turn'.

That came shortly after Aurier was dismissed for two bookings — the second for a cynical tug on Ryan Bertrand — in quick succession, but Spurs still went into the break ahead.

Son Heung-min, Christian Eriksen and Kane linked on a breathtaking counter and the latter finished into the bottom-left corner.

Lloris went some way to restoring a semblance of authority in the second half with two wonderful stops to deny James Ward-Prowse's long-range free-kick and then a Maya Yoshida header as Spurs held on to move up to fourth in the table.