Tottenham: Frank calls on Romero to learn from red card as he insists Spurs have enough to stay up

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero must learn from his first-half red card against Manchester United, Thomas Frank said as he expressed confidence Spurs have the players they need to avoid relegation.

Spurs’ dismal run of results under Frank continued as they were beaten 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Their hopes of victory were severely damaged when Romero was sent off for a reckless challenge on United midfielder Casemiro. Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes then clinched the points for the Red Devils.

Tottenham are just six points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, having won just two of their last 16 Premier League games.

They face Newcastle United at home on Tuesday, with Frank desperate to avoid another damaging result that drags them further into the mire. Spurs have failed to win each of their meetings with Newcastle this season, losing in the EFL Cup at St James’ Park before a 2-2 draw in the Premier League in which Romero scored twice.

With six goals in all competitions this season, the impact of Romero’s absence for the next three games could be significant at both ends of the pitch as Tottenham aim to pull away from the bottom three.

Frank had some kind words for his captain in his pre-match press conference, but accepted Romero needs to take in the lessons from his fourth Premier League red card to ensure such errors are not repeated.

“For me, I think he is a leader. He is a young leader. He’s learning every day,” Frank said of Romero.

“I’ve said I used the example when I was 30 years old I thought I was on top of the world, but I was nowhere near the level I am today in terms of leadership and understanding things.

“And then when you have a player that’s playing with so much passion and aggression, things like that can happen. 

“That’s not to say he shouldn’t learn from it, of course he needs learn from it, going forward.”

In addition to Romero, Tottenham will also be without left-back Destiny Udogie for “four to five weeks” after suffering a hamstring injury.

That pair join a lengthy list of absentees, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentancur, Richarlison, Ben Davies, Pedro Porro and Lucas Bergvall all unavailable.

But asked if Tottenham have enough to stay up, Frank replied: “Yeah, I think we have. Of course there’s no doubt that a lot of players are out, that of course never helps. But I think I put a very competitive team out against Manchester.

“There’s no doubt we are desperate to win games, desperate. And I am focusing on Newcastle tomorrow – that’s a great opportunity ahead of us against a good team.

“That’s the main thing. Can we go out there and get three points tomorrow? That will be very good and then climb from there and look forward, and that’s the main focus.”