Thomas Frank points finger at Aston Villa star after huge post-match brawl

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Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has slammed Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins for triggering a mass brawl after the two side's FA Cup clash. The Premier League teams came together in the third round of the competition on Saturday.

Villa secured a 2-1 victory, with Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers scoring the goals to see them through, despite Wilson Odobert's second-half strike. But the drama did not end with the final whistle.

Spurs midfielder Joao Palhinha appeared to take exception to Watkins' celebrations at the end of the game and reacted angrily to the Villa star. A host of players then got involved .

And Spurs boss Frank has blamed the England striker for his role in the confrontation. Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Danish head coach said: "It's about keeping a cool head, the players gave everything. Losing a tight game, season not going perfectly and Ollie is very provoking.

"He can easily just walk around. Everyone who has been in a competitive nature, that can trigger things."

Asked if his players needed to be careful not to get drawn in, he added: "You need to play with passion, sometimes you play to the line and sometimes borderline. I see players with big passion and that is important, but we also need cool heads."

And while Frank had complaints about the end of the game, there were no such comments from the Villa camp, who were left delighted with their victory. Goal-scorer Rogers praised his teammates for the way they fought off Spurs' comeback.

He said: "We wanted to build on the first half, we were good in the first half, but they came out well in the second half. They're a good team, they're at home in front of their fans, and we had to dig deep, we had to work and defend our box. We did well and I think we deserved the win in the end."

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Rogers, 23, now has eight goals to his name this season. On his form, he added: "I'm loving it. I'm feeling really good and I'm in a good bit of form.

"I'm feeling positive and confident - but so are the team - and that's the most important thing. As a team, and as a collective, we're playing really well at the moment."

Villa will be back in action next weekend as they take on Everton at Villa Park. Spurs in the meantime will turn their attention to a home game against struggling West Ham United next Saturday.

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