Thomas Frank has said that Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence have apologised after the duo appeared to ignore him in the immediate aftermath of Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League defeat to Chelsea on Saturday.
João Pedro's 34th-minute strike gave Chelsea a thoroughly deserved win against a toothless Spurs team in north London and Frank's side were booed by a frustrated home crowd at the final whistle.
Spurs managed just three shots in the match and recorded an xG of 0.05 -- their lowest in a Premier League game since records began in the 2012-13 season.
As Frank entered the pitch to do a customary lap of appreciation, Van de Ven and Spence appeared to ignore their manager's request to acknowledge the supporters as they headed straight down the tunnel.
"Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday unprompted and said they want to say sorry for the situation," Frank told a news conference on Monday.
"They didn't want it to look bad or disrespectful and all the kind of perceptions you can get in this media world. So, that was not their intention at all towards me, or the team or the club.
"They were just frustrated with the performance, the loss and the booing during the game.
"We all have a perception and we are very good to have that strongly that, 'ah that is because whatever, because their mum wasn't well or they didn't like the head coach or they were irritated with the performance, or because they lost.' We are very, very good at that but none of us knows.
"That would be my first question to them -- how and why? Of course I am happy, because I knew the question would come today, that they were coming in [already].
"It means they care and I think that is very good. They care about the team, the club and in this case me, so happy with that.
"That is very good and we had a good talk about a lot of things, but like everything we will keep it internally.
"Like I said to the players when I said before, it would be very, very, very unusual if I ever throw a player under the bus. We are all humans but I will always protect them."
- Tottenham's inept loss to Chelsea has fans turning on Frank
- Marcotti: Tottenham have big problems
- Premier League table
Quizzed on if the matter with Van de Ven and Spence was now closed after both apologised, Frank added: "For me? Ah yeah. 100 percent."
Frank also confirmed that Lucas Bergvall will miss both Spurs' Champions League tie against Copenhagen on Tuesday and their Premier League meeting with Manchester United at the weekend after the midfielder suffered a concussion in the opening minutes of the defeat to Chelsea.
"Lucas is out through concussion which was obvious for everyone watching the game," Frank said. "Djed and Mo [Mohammed Kudus] both have knocks and could still be available for tomorrow.