Thomas Frank backed Ivan Tony following leaked speculation over an alleged ban by the Football Association (FA) for his alleged betting violations, as well as speculation that he trained poorly during his time with the England team.
The Brentford striker has been charged with 262 alleged infractions by the governing body of English football over a four-year period.
There was no official update from the FA on the matter, but reports originally published by The Daily Mail on Tuesday claimed that Tony had pleaded guilty to most of the charges and could face a six-month ban.
These reports said the 26-year-old also denied some infractions, though Tony was baffled by reports of the FA leaks, posting on Instagram that he was “shocked and disappointed” by them.
Tony received his first call-up to England in September, but was left out of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the World Cup.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Biz head coach Frank said: “The most important thing is [thing] this is Ivan. He’s amazing in so many ways, how he handles pressure or distraction, and that’s of course more important.
“This has been going on since November and yet he continued to score goals, play for the team, manage the team. It’s so wonderful.
“We have 11 games without defeat. [in the Premier League]so I think it’s a decent answer.”
Only Erling Haaland (27) and Harry Kane (18) have scored more goals than Toni (14 goals in 21 Premier League appearances this season) and Frank praised his striker’s ability to keep fit despite outside noise.
“It’s like life, sometimes things get thrown at you and you have to deal with it,” he said.
“I would say that we share Ivan’s frustration about leaks, that is, in a confidential case. This surprised us a lot.
“The time of the leaks, just before the World Championships and the March International [England] team [announcement].
“Conversations that there is a potential ban for up to six months disappoint us.
“Then we share the disappointment that the talk is that Ivan has not trained well with the England team. What it is?
“He is playing for England for the first time and I have never met a player who did not want to do his best on the training ground, who wanted to do well to impress the manager.
“I can only talk about Ivan what I see here [in training] and in this place he is a fantastic person in the group.
“He has a unique emotional intelligence that distinguishes the lowest player from the best players and employees.
“He has trained well and for me he is clearly number two in England as a striker. He proved it with his goals and performance.”