Ange Postecoglou warns against burning Rodrigo Bentancur 'at the stake' for racist comments as coach denies Tottenham's appeal against ban gives a bad image

Bentancur was banned by the FA for seven games after making a racist comment towards his team-mate, Son Heung-min, as he suggested South Korean people are indistinguishable from each other. The Uruguay international apologised for his comments but the Football Association has handed him a suspension, and Spurs have appealed the severity of the ban.

A minimum six-game ban is applied for racist comments, but because Bentancur's comment was deemed an "aggravated breach", an extra game has been added. That fixture will take place against Liverpool, and a perhaps cynical read would be to suggest that Spurs are merely trying to ensure he is available for the big game. Postecoglou has insisted that he stands behind Spurs' decision to take issue with the severity of the suspension and maintains the opposition in game number seven has had no impact on the decision.

Asked if Spurs were sending a mixed message by appealing the sanction, Postecoglou said: "I'm not interested in looks or what people want to make... He's said he's made a mistake. We'll accept whatever penalty comes our way. We believe that the first one was a little bit harsh so we've appealed that which I think is our right. That's the whole process. Even if you look at the punishment, it's at the lower end of the scale so even the people who have all of the information have adjudicated that way.

"I get that people want to burn people at the stake nowadays, but as I keep saying part of this process if you want real education and progress is to understand that when somebody makes a mistake and they pay the penalty, part of that is education and hopefully treating them in the way that people see that's a way forward, whether it's Rodrigo or anyone else. I'm old enough in life that I've made bigger mistakes than that mate, but I was allowed to learn from them and hopefully I'm a better human being because of that."

Asked about the prospect of having Bentancur available against Liverpool, the Spurs boss added: "I couldn't care less who it's against but yes it's worth it because that's what we feel. We still have a judicial process. That's why appeals are there. We're not going outside the jurisdiction, we're not trying to create something that's not available to us.

"We think it was harsh, we think it shoulder have been the minimum and we'll go through that process. If it's deemed not then we'll accept that. We're not going to just accept to something if we feel that it's not the right thing in terms of our process. So I'm fully supportive and we'll abide by any decision but that's why there's an appeal process."

Spurs face Manchester City this weekend. They will not have Bentancur available, but it remains to be seen when their appeal will be ruled upon.