VIDEO: Thomas Frank left speechless after discovering staggering Cristian Romero stat after Tottenham captain dismissed in loss to Man Utd

Romero was sent off in the first half against United, ahead of a collapse from the north London side. The captain's reckless challenge on Casemiro was punished with a straight red card, and he will now be suspended for the next four Premier League games, against Newcastle, Arsenal, Fulham, and Crystal Palace, having already received a red this season. The game hinged on Romero's dismissal and in attempting to defend his captain after the game, Frank was drawn into a rather embarrassing exchange with a journalist.

He said: "I think if you look at how many red cards he has had, it's not like he had that many throughout his career. You know, you play with passion and you play with aggression. And there's a fine line when you do that."

Romero actually does have the most red cards in the Premier League of any Spurs player, and when a journalist pointed that out, he responded: "At the club? Yeah, but not in the Premier League... Of Premier League players? OK, I didn't know that."

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Romero has been in the news this week, slamming the Spurs board as a "disgrace" after the January transfer window closed. Now, having been red carded, journalists asked Frank if, given the choice, he would choose Romero as his skipper again.

He said: "No, there's not. And also, he was sorry for the incident, he apologised to his team-mates in the changing room. No, I think he's one of the most important players, and I think when he performs top, he's driving the team.

"I think it’s fair to say I don’t think he had any intention to get a red card after 28 minutes."

Asked if he would strip him of the captaincy, he replied: "No."

On the sending off, he struck a measured tone: "First, I think we started the 30 minutes well. I think it was a good away performance. Very even against a Man United team in flow and playing with confidence. So happy with that. Of course, the red card changed the momentum. Very proud of the players in general, but proud of them in the last 60 plus, whatever, 10 injury minutes, how they showed resilience, stayed in the game, didn't crumble, kept fighting, and still created some moments where we could maybe have created that goal.

"Then of course, when we then did the three positive subs with 15-20 minutes to go, they scored straight after. The red card is the red card. I watched it now back five times, you know. Cuti clearly tried to go for the ball. Unfortunately, it just moved before and then there's the red card."

Spurs are currently 14th in the Premier League and have failed to win any of their last five games. They sit six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham and face Newcastle on Tuesday, before taking on Arsenal in a north London derby that could have major implications both at the top and the bottom of the table. Frank desperately needs to pick up three points soon. 

Without Romero, they are likely to lean on Radu Dragusin or Joao Palhinha for their upcoming fixtures, but they were dealt another injury blow as Destiny Udogie limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring problem. 

Frank said on the Italian: "We will assess him tomorrow. So, of course, I will probably see you guys in, what, two days' time or less, and then we'll know more. We'll assess him tomorrow."