Ange Postecoglou defends Tottenham decision to appeal Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-match ban | OneFootball

Spurs in process of appeal after midfielder hit with seven-game suspension

Ange Postecoglou has defended Tottenham's decision to appeal against Rodrigo Bentancur's seven-match ban and says he has "made bigger mistakes" than the Uruguayan midfielder.

Spurs "accept the guilty finding" against Bentancur, but "believe the subsequent sanction is severe" and have appealed against the ruling of the independent commission.

"I couldn't care less who it's against but, yes, it's worth [appealing] because that's what we feel," Postecoglou said. "We still have a judicial process.

"That's why appeals are there. We're not going outside the jurisdiction, we're not trying to create something that's not available to us. We think it was harsh, we think it should have been the minimum [sanction] and we'll go through that process. If it's deemed not, then we'll accept that.

"We're not going to just accept something if we feel that it's not the right thing in terms of our process. So I'm fully supportive and we'll abide by any decision but that's why there's an appeal process.

"He's said he's made a mistake. We'll accept whatever penalty comes our way. We believe that the first one was a little bit harsh so we've appealed that which I think is our right. That's the whole process. Even if you look at the punishment, it's at the lower end of the scale so even the people who have all of the information have adjudicated that way.

Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned by the FA for seven games

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"I get that people want to burn people at the stake nowadays, but as I keep saying part of this process if you want real education and progress is to understand that when somebody makes a mistake and they pay the penalty, part of that is education and hopefully treating them in the way that people see that's a way forward, whether it's Rodrigo or anyone else.

"I'm old enough in life that I've made bigger mistakes than that mate, but I was allowed to learn from them and hopefully I'm a better human being because of that."

Bentancur learned of his sanction while he was away on international duty with Uruguay and he will serve the first game of his ban in Saturday's game against Manchester City.

"I spoke to him briefly now, he only got in late yesterday so today was the first day I saw him," Postecoglou added.

"He has accepted all along that he is going to take whatever penalty comes his way. At the same time, for us it is about trying to support him through that process and hopefully get through it and once the ban is over get him to be ready to contribute.

"We've been helping Rodrigo through the process of understanding it and the whole group about understanding the ramifications of making such a mistake.

"That's how you get progress and the whole group understands that. Is it a daily topic? No, it's not because there's a lot of other things going on but it's not like we're pretending it didn't happen.

"We know it happened and the appropriate people are dealing with it, we have dealt with it within the four walls of our dressing room."

Postecoglou will be without centre-backs Cristian Romero (foot) and Micky van de Ven (hamstring) at the Etihad Stadium, while forwards Richarlison and Wilson Odobert (both hamstring) are long-term absentees.

Odobert had surgery this week, while Postecoglou revealed Richarlison would not be available again until next year. Mikey Moore is still recovering from a virus.

"Obviously Wilson will be out for a fair chunk of the season, Richy hopefully will be back in the new year but similar to Micky we just need to be careful every step of the way and Mikey will still be out for a little bit of time," Postecoglou added.

"So, we're a little bit short there but it just depends if by January we get two or three back we may not need to but we'll kind of see as it goes."