Simons, who came close to joining Chelsea this summer before signing for Tottenham in a £52 million ($68m) deal from RB Leipzig, started the game on the bench, but was introduced as a seventh-minute substitute when Lucas Bergvall was forced off with a head injury. However, with Spurs chasing a goal, Frank chose to take Simons back off on 73 minutes, replacing him with Wilson Odobert. This means Simons has now gone 12 games without scoring for the north Londoners, while he has also contributed only one assist in that time. Nevertheless, Frank is adamant the 22-year-old won’t dwell on what was ultimately a tactical decision.
When asked by GOAL if he was concerned over Simons’ confidence and whether this substitution would make matters worse, Frank replied: “No, it’s part of the reason we didn’t start him because he’s played two starts in a short turnaround. It’s that energy and freshness I talked about. He played 90 minutes on Wednesday night [against Newcastle], so that’s why we decided that [to bench him]. He played 70 minutes here. So I think it was nothing, it’s just it looks different that he comes on after a few minutes then gets subbed off.”
Frank was then asked if Simons’ inability to create chances on Saturday frustrated him, to which the Dane said: “I think when players make mistakes on the pitch, if they lose a ball or miss a pass, of course I can get irritated in general in a specific situation. But that’s part of football. How many times have you seen a player miss a pass or do something that happens, that can be flow or confidence or everything. Whatever it is, mistakes are part of football.”