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Mathys Tel has been kicked out of Tottenham's Champions League squad, marking the second time he has been dropped in Europe this season. Thomas Frank confirmed that Tel, who signed from Bayern Munich for £30million last summer, has been axed now that Dominic Solanke is back fit. The France international had already been left out of the Spurs squad back in September.

Solanke's return allows Spurs to exploit a loophole in UEFA regulations to bring him back into the squad. But while the centre-forward is back, Tel pays the price and will not be in the squad for their final two league phase matches against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt. Announcing the news, Frank explained in a pre-match press conference: "I made the decision. It was not a nice decision to have to make but unfortunately that is football. The way the rules are, the only option was Dom or Mathys and I chose Dom.

"Because I think Mathys has done very well the last couple of games and if I could pick from all the players he would start tomorrow, but I can only choose between the two of them. It's a tough one for Mathys, but he is not in the squad tomorrow." Fabrizio Romano reports that Tel and his representatives have been left furious with the decision to exile the attacker.

Asked how he feels fans will react to the decision to drop the 20-year-old, Frank replied: "I do not know. I hope people understand that it is not a straightforward decision. It is him or Dom [Solanke] in the team tomorrow. That is the decision. I believe it is the right one and that is what I went with."

The Tottenham manager faced jeers at the weekend when he substituted Tel during the 2-1 loss to West Ham. Solanke replaced the Frenchman in the 62nd minute while the Hammers led 1-0. Frank admitted post-match: "I need to take decisions, of course. So I had to take one offensive player off.

"And I feel Wilson [Odobert] is a bit better to the right and wanted two strikers on the pitch. So that was the decision. There was nothing wrong with Mathys' performance."

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The Spurs boss is under mounting pressure with the Dane's record reading just 11 wins and 12 defeats in 32 matches in charge at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Frank said at his pre-Dortmund press conference: "If your back is against the wall, you fight. I am energetic and I fight. It is not about me, we need to win football matches and we need to do that together. We are ready and focused on the game together and the players look good."

Asked if he can win the fans back over, a confident Frank added: "Yes, I am not in doubt of that. In this game, you always need resilience. The three biggest things in showing resilience is having good values and I believe I am a guy that has good values.

"Second is you know reality and the reality is that one in five people don't like you no matter what you do and one in five love you no matter what you do - both sides are probably biased, no matter what you do.

"And then there is the three and five, if you behave well, are respectful and show integrity then you are sweet. The reality is not everyone will like you."