Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Cristian Stellini has been left bemused by "strange" criticism of Harry Kane for the England captain's role in Abdoulaye Doucoure's sending off against Everton at Goodison Park on Monday.
In what was Stellini's first game as acting head coach since replacing Antonio Conte, Kane and Doucoure were at the centre of a skirmish after the former had brought down Demarai Gray right in front of the dugouts.
A set-to ensued between Kane and Doucoure, the latter of whom struck his opponent with his hand, and Kane immediately went down to the turf clutching his face in the 58th minute.
Referee David Coote had no option but to brandish a straight red card to Doucoure, but Kane received incessant criticism for his reaction to the Everton man's offence.
Jamie Carragher and Chris Sutton were among those to hit out at Kane's actions, with the former labelling his fall "embarrassing", and Stellini believes that such comments are coming from the mouths of those who hold little respect for Tottenham.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion, Stellini said: "I think it's strange that some ex-players said some things I think wrong about Harry because they're ex players and they understand the difference between seeing a situation like this in slow-motion and living this experience in real time," as quoted by football.london.
"It's completely different. Everton's manager said it's a clear red card, so there's no discussion about this. I don't understand why some player spoke about this. I think they don't agree with Tottenham, instead of not agreeing with Harry. I think they respect Harry but probably they don't respect Tottenham enough.
"I have never seen him exaggerate something. I have seen him stand up after a strong tackle and we have a lot of examples. Also we spoke with the board of referees about some of the tackles Harry received and really bad. Also in the first half last match there was a strong tackle from a central defender but we don't discuss this and Harry doesn't discuss this.
"He's an amazing player in every aspect, also in the behaviour he has and the respect he has. He respects the game a lot. It's important to say this and everyone has to understand that they cannot challenge Harry on this aspect."
After dusting himself off, Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot against Everton, but Sean Dyche's 10 men responded admirably and levelled through a Michael Keane stunner after Lucas Moura had also been given his marching orders.
Eyebrows were raised when Lucas - who will leave the club when his contract expires this summer - was chosen to reinforce the attack over Villarreal loanee Arnaut Danjuma, who memorably snubbed Everton at the last minute in January to join Tottenham.
Danjuma is yet to start a Premier League game for Spurs, but Stellini has admitted that the Dutchman "deserves" to earn more game time as injuries and suspensions take their toll on Tottenham.
"Now for sure because we don't have many players but Danjuma deserves to play probably early but we also have a squad and some leaders of our team and if you send them out of the team then you can lose the ability to score," Stellini added.
"We have three very good strikers and it's not easy to change them. You have to find the right way and the right moment and also now tactically we don't have many solutions, and we don't have enough players."
In terms of team news, Tottenham remain without Emerson Royal (knee), Rodrigo Bentancur (knee), Yves Bissouma (ankle), Ben Davies (thigh) and Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) for Saturday's game, while Lucas begins a three-game domestic ban.
Richarlison has made his return to individual training from a hamstring injury, but Saturday's game will also come too soon for the Brazilian, who could instead return for the visit of Bournemouth on April 15.
Tottenham's draw with Everton saw them temporarily rise back into the top four of the Premier League table, but Manchester United's win over Brentford on Wednesday bumped the Lilywhites down to fifth.
