Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has insisted that his side will always "err on the side of caution" when it comes to head injuries following Cristian Romero's early withdrawal in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Brentford.
The Argentina defender - who was appointed one of two vice-captains to Son Heung-min alongside James Maddison last week - scored Spurs' first Premier League goal of the season from the latter's free kick at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Romero just about managed to keep himself onside to head home, but he was taken off almost immediately after his contribution, having clashed heads with Brentford attacker Bryan Mbeumo.
Romero was evidently frustrated at having to come off, but Postecoglou has affirmed that he will never be prepared to take risks with potential concussions, and he could not guarantee that Romero would be fit for next weekend's showdown with Manchester United.
"He got a head knock and it was pretty clear. The medical team were monitoring him as he progressed from there and then he scored with his head," football.london quotes Postecoglou as saying in his post-game press conference.
"They were pretty sure we needed for his own benefit to get him off and obviously what we know about head injuries, for me it is not even an issue. We will always err on the side of caution.
"Cristian, the player is not the one you listen to in those situation because he doesn't know what is going either, so I thought it was pretty clear what we had to do.
"Disappointed that we apparently filled out the wrong slip and it was not a concussion sub. In this day and age where what we know about head injuries, if we are going to worry about what form we fill out, I thought it was pretty clear what happened but hopefully he'll be okay."
When asked if Romero would be available for the visit of the Red Devils, Postecoglou added: "I don't know mate. Well, exactly that is where people like me should shut up and listen to the doctors so that is what I'll do.
"We've gone beyond the stage of managers or players try to get funny about these things. It is clear the protocols are there for a reason and the welfare of the player is paramount so that decision will be made by people who know about this subject far more than I do."
Two new eras began for Spurs at the Gtech Community Stadium, as Postecoglou oversaw an enthralling contest between two attack-minded teams in his first Premier League game in charge, which was also Tottenham's first match since Harry Kane's departure to Bayern Munich.
Following Romero's opener, Mbeumo's penalty and Yoane Wissa's deflected strike turned the tie on its head for Brentford, but a sublime Emerson Royal strike would ensure that Tottenham came away with a point.
Romero's possible absence next week could provide a route back into the matchday squad for Eric Dier, who was nowhere to be seen at the Gtech Community Stadium amid speculation surrounding his long-term future.
When questioned on the Englishman's absence, Postecoglou stated that Dier is working hard on the training pitches and insisted that his absence was not "unusual", saying: "Eric is part of this team. We left a few out today.
"We left some players on the bench today that are very good players. We need a strong squad, it's not about 11 players. Eric is in the same boat as all the other boys.
"He's working hard in training and available for selection. My decisions then are what I think will give us the best chance of success for any given game and then we reassess the week after. Nothing really unusual there."
Djed Spence, Tanguy Ndombele and Japhet Tanganga were also among the notable absentees for Tottenham on Sunday, while all of Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and Maddison made their top-flight debuts for the Lilywhites. body check tags ::
