Tottenham Hotspur striker Heung-min Son was left “broken” by the horrific injury to Everton midfielder Andre Gomes caused by his tackle in their Sunday draw, and the South Korean is still coming to terms with the situation.
Gomes was left screaming in agony after suffering a fracture-dislocation to his right ankle following Son’s challenge in the 79th-minute of the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park and is now expected to miss the rest of the season.
Referee Martin Atkinson initially reached for his yellow card before showing Son a straight red – a decision which Spurs are expected to appeal.
An inconsolable Son had to be led off the pitch by club staff, and goal-scorer Dele Alli afterwards revealed he could “barely lift his head up” in the dressing room because he was crying so much.
Spurs will offer the South Korean professional counselling and Davies, who captained the side for the first time, said the forward feared the perception was that he had deliberately tried to injure Gomes.
“He’s really shaken up. I speak for everyone [at Spurs] when I say our sympathies go to Gomes.
“No-one goes on the pitch to hurt anyone. I think that’s the bottom line, especially not someone like Sonny, who is broken in the dressing room, trying to deal with what’s happened. These things happen in football. And as hard as that is, they do. For us, it’s just about hoping Gomes is OK now,” he said.
Asked if he needed the support of his teammates, Davies said: “Yes, 100 percent. As a group we need to pull together now – that’s what we said on the pitch. You can see how much it affected everybody, not just on the pitch but also in the stadium. It was difficult to deal with.
“He’s a lively character but we’ll try to pick him up as much as we can. It’s tough right now but over the next couple of days it’s about making him realize that he didn’t go out there to hurt anyone. He thinks people may see that in him but it’s not the case.
“There were probably three tackles I was involved in that were worse than the incident. It’s a freak moment. I don’t think he can let himself be too down about it.
“The emotion does affect you. It’s not the first time it’s happened to me – I was on the pitch when it happened to Seamus Coleman for Ireland – and it shakes you up. It really does, it doesn’t matter if it’s your team-mate or not. You can see the emotion across the field.”
Gomes was treated on the pitch before being taken straight to hospital and he will undergo surgery on Monday. Everton’s equalized through substitute Cenk Tosun in the seventh of 12 added minutes, and Davies admitted the sending off had an impact on the result.
“I think the fact that we went down to ten men had more of an effect [on Everton’s equalizer] than the actual incident but we fought bravely,” added the Welshman.
“I thought we were in control. It wasn’t the prettiest or most impressive game from us but I don’t think we really looked under threat and when we went 1-0 up I thought it suited us. Until the sending off we were in control of the game.”
The result left Spurs with just one win in six matches – the 5-0 victory over Wednesday’s opponents Red Star Belgrade – and ten points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.