London, Aug 15 (IANS) Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank showed his support for forward Mathys Tel after he was subjected to racial abuse following their penalty shootout defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Super Cup.
Tel, 20, was one of two players who failed to hit the back of the net as Tottenham succumbed to defeat.
“I think it’s terrible what happened to Mathys. We’re doing everything to support him in this situation. He’s a strong person. He will have support from family and friends as well as us.”
“There’s no real Tottenham supporter that would do that [to him]. You’ll see the real Tottenham supporters at the stadium tomorrow backing him. I expect big cheers for him tomorrow,” said Frank in a pre-game press conference.
The new head coach also confirmed Destiny Udogie is ‘progressing’ but will not feature in their Premier League opener against Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
The full-back has been sidelined since July, when he ‘felt something’ in his knee in the warm-up ahead of the pre-season friendly against Luton Town.
“Every player is available for the team tomorrow. Destiny is progressing, but it’s too early for him to be involved in the squad.”
Thomas was asked later about Yves Bissouma, who was left out of the squad for PSG due to disciplinary reasons. “Bissouma was a situation, I addressed it, there was a consequence, he will be in the squad tomorrow. We move forward. We have a big game tomorrow.”
Thomas also reported that Manor Solomon was back from injury and trained with the team on Thursday. Dominic Solanke returned from injury off the bench in the second half against PSG. The longer-term injured players James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin remain sidelined.
–IANS
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