Thomas Frank defended the sale of Brennan Johnson after Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland, with Brian Brobbey's 80th-minute equaliser cancelling out Ben Davies' first-half opener. Spurs fans voiced their displeasure at the full-time whistle as their side failed to capitalise on a dominant first half.
Davies scored his first club goal in over two years from a corner, but Spurs could not extend their lead. Frank admitted his side lacked a 'cutting edge' without the suspended Xavi Simons and the injured Mohammed Kudus, who was forced off early with a muscle problem. The sale of Johnson to Crystal Palace for £35m further weakened forward options.
'The big headline is: we didn't score the 2-0 goal,' Frank said. 'The first half was very good, we were totally dominant. Second half, not as dominant but we still had good counterattack situations where we need to get more out of it.'
Sunderland, missing six players at the Africa Cup of Nations, grew into the game after the break. Enzo Le Fée hit the post before combining with Brobbey for the equaliser, a slick move finished first-time past Guglielmo Vicario. Sunderland manager Régis Le Bris acknowledged his side were fortunate: 'Probably we are a bit lucky because in a Premier League game, when you don't play at your best, you should be punished.'
Frank rued the lack of depth, noting that rivals could bring on like-for-like replacements. 'We lacked a little extra freshness,' he said. 'I look at some teams last night that just put three players on like-for-like and then they run away with the win – a club we can't speak about. That would have helped us.' Sunderland remain eighth on 30 points, with Le Bris targeting 40 for survival.
