Tottenham Captain Cristian Romero should learn from his first-half red card against Manchester United, Thomas Frank said, as he expressed confidence that Spurs have the players they need to avoid relegation.

Spurs’ dismal run of results under Frank continued Lost 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Their hopes of victory suffered a major blow when Romero was sent off for a reckless challenge on United midfielder Casemiro. Goals from Brian Mbuyo and Bruno Fernandes secured the points for the Red Devils.

Tottenham are just six points ahead Premier League relegation zoneThey have won just two of their last 16 Premier League games.

They face Newcastle United at home on Tuesday, with Frank desperate to avoid another damaging result that drags them further down. Spurs have failed to win each of their meetings with Newcastle this season, losing in the EFL Cup at St James’ Park before a 2-2 draw in the Premier League in which Romero scored twice.

With six goals in all competitions this season, the impact of Romero’s absence for the next three games could be significant at both ends of the pitch as Tottenham aim to pull away from the bottom three.

Frank had some kind words for his captain in his pre-match press conference, but admitted Romero needs to learn from his fourth Premier League red card to ensure such mistakes are not repeated.

“For me, I think he’s a leader. He’s a young leader. He’s learning every day,” Frank said of Romero.

“I have said that I used the example of when I was 30 years old, I thought I was on top of the world, but I was nowhere near the level I am today in terms of leadership and understanding things.

“And then when you have a player who is playing with a lot of passion and aggression, things like that can happen.

“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t learn from it, of course he needs to learn from it going forward.”

In addition to Romero, Tottenham will also be without left-back Destiny Udogi for “four to five weeks” with a hamstring injury.

The pair join a long list of absentees, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohamed Kudus, Rodrigo Bentanker, Richarlison, Ben Davies, Pedro Porro and Lucas Bergwall all unavailable.

But asked if Tottenham had enough to stay, Frank replied: “Yes, I think we have. Of course there are a lot of players out, that never helps of course. But I think I fielded a very competitive team against Manchester.

“There’s no doubt we’re desperate to win games, desperate. And I’m focused on Newcastle tomorrow – that’s a big opportunity ahead of us against a good team.

“That’s the main thing. Can we go out there and get the three points tomorrow? That would be great and then climb from there and look forward, and that’s the main focus.”