Frank: Spence's sub reaction 'didn't look the best'

Thomas Frank said Tottenham Hotspur full-back Djed Spence knows his reaction at Nottingham Forest "didn't look the best" and expects the defender to learn from it.

Spence, 25, looked perplexed at being substituted during the 3-0 loss at the City Ground and it is the second time this season the England international has made headlines with a reaction towards Spurs boss Frank.

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Micky van de Ven and Spence appeared to ignore instructions by Frank to applaud the home fans following a 1-0 loss to Chelsea on Nov. 1 and, while an apology from the duo followed, the former Brentford head coach hinted this latest incident cannot happen again.

"I spoke to him. He was disappointed because he thought because of an injury he was subbed off and it wasn't, or that we thought he had an injury," Frank explained.

"I think he's been highlighted twice which, of course, is never perfect because then we need to use time on it here in the press conference so it's best if we haven't.

"It's two situations where he's very aware of the fact it didn't look the best and we are dealing with young people.

"He's 24 or 25 years old? How can I say, a big focus and pressure, and sometimes you don't do exactly what is the perfect way, and you learn from it. You should learn from it and do it better in the future."

Spence is expected to start when Liverpool visit Tottenham on Saturday, but Brennan Johnson could again be consigned to a place on the bench.

Johnson's lack of game time has sparked rumours a January move could be on the cards and even though Frank implied he would like to keep last season's leading scorer, the Wales international has been an unused substitute in two of the last four league games.

Asked if he wanted Johnson to stay, Frank said: "Yeah, I think we will be playing a lot of games, so it's important to have enough to shoot with.

"Overall I'm happy with Brennan. He trained well [Friday]. We mentioned before that he has played some very good games on the right and [Mohammed] Kudus has come in, so that's been a little bit of bigger competition there. Not that he can't play to the left.

"I'm happy with Brennan. I'm happy with everyone in the squad. It's just I can only play 11 unfortunately."