Tottenham get Christmas day off but Thomas Frank warns plays to be 'grown-up'

THOMAS THE FRANK ENGINE: Thomas Frank has confirmed Tottenham's players will have Christmas Day off. Pic: Steve Welsh/PA Wire.

Thomas Frank has confirmed Tottenham's players will have Christmas Day off, but only because it fits perfectly into their weekly schedule before Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace.

Spurs have endured a difficult start to Frank's reign and are 14th in the Premier League table after a run of five defeats in eight matches in all competitions.

Discontent amongst the Tottenham fanbase has seen players and Frank heavily criticised and asked if he had reservation about the perception of giving the team Christmas Day off, the 52-year-old explained his rationale.

"This week we actually handle in the same way I would have done with any other week. If it was not Christmas, it was still done the same," Frank revealed.

"So, we have two days leading to the game, day off, two days. So Tuesday and Wednesday, then off on 25th and then two days. Then it's perfectly fit the Christmas family schedule, which is very good.

"And I'm a big believer of being a top professional and that's something I believe the players are and should be. Some need to be guided more than others, but also they are grown-up individuals.

"If I need to hold their hand the whole time, we have a bigger problem in my opinion."

Frank will be without captain Cristian Romero and Xavi Simons for the journey across the capital due to suspension, which is another untimely blow to the Danish coach.

Romero has also been handed a further charge for his actions following the red card on Saturday.

An FA statement read: "It is alleged he acted in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after he was sent off in the 93rd minute."

It has been a chastening few months but the ex-Brentford boss can see similarities with his spell at Brondby in 2013 where he recovered from a slow start to enjoy success over a three-year period.

He admitted: "I think I see a lot of similarities to my first head coach job. Of course, completely different scale.

"This is, of course, a massive club. One of the biggest clubs in the world and so much focus on it, so that makes it of course bigger and a different challenge.

"But I see a lot of similarities when I had my first head coach job in Brondby and here where you try to build something over time.

"You inherit something that you need to try to get right with a lot of good people around me and then where this makes it extra challenging is that we play Champions League and Premier League at the same time.

"And we try to improve while we are driving 100 miles an hour, but that's part of it. That's a good challenge.

"I think I see a lot of good things we improve, but it's all about how can we have even more consistency in performances? How can you create consistency in performances day in, day out? That's the thing we're working on every single day."