Tottenham have appealed against Heung-min Son's red card for the tackle leading to Andre Gomes' horrific injury.

Referee Martin Atkinson initially reached for his yellow card before switching to a straight red when he realised the severity of Gomes' injury in the 79th-minute of Sunday's 1-1 draw at Everton.

In a statement, the Premier League explained the change, saying: "The red card for Son was for endangering the safety of a player which happened as a consequence of his initial challenge."

Mauricio Pochettino, the Spurs manager, was left visibly bemused when told of the League's explanation immediately after his post-match press conference, where he described the sending off as "unbelievable" and questioned why Atkinson was not assisted by the VAR.

Spurs have lodged an appeal for wrongful dismissal with the FA, with an outcome expected mid-week.

If the decision is upheld, Son will be suspended for the next three League matches - against Sheffield United, West Ham and Bournemouth - and won't feature domestically until the trip to Manchester United on December 4.

With Spurs leading 1-0 through Dele Alli, Gomes suffered a fracture dislocation to his right ankle after landing awkwardly following Son's trip and he underwent surgery on Monday. Cenk Tosun scored a 97th-minute equaliser to leave Spurs with 13 points from 11 League matches.

A tearful Son was left shaking and he had to be led to the away dressing room by club staff, including Tottenham's player liaison officer. He was later said to be "in shock" and was visited by Everton's Seamus Coleman, who suffered a sickening broken leg in March 2017.

In the aftermath, a supporter was accused of racially abusing Son and Everton said in a statement: "Everton is investigating an alleged incident of racist behaviour by a supporter attending [the] fixture against Tottenham. Everton strongly condemns any form of racism. Any such behaviour has no place within our stadium, our club, our community or our game."