Tottenham have revealed that Gareth Bale will continue to be monitored over the next few days after scans showed only a minor hamstring strain following his return to training on Monday. The winger had to pull out of Wales' Euro 2012 qualifier against England on Saturday due to the problem and could only watch as his country went down 2-0 at the Millennium Stadium.
Bale's withdrawal also sparked debate about when exactly he picked up the injury, with Harry Redknapp hitting back at suggestions from the Football Association of Wales that he was not fit when he left Spurs to link up for international duty. Tottenham have now attempted to further clarify the situation, whilst issuing an upbeat bulletin over the player's fitness.
The extent of the damage has been shown to be a grade one strain - the recovery time for which usually stands from between seven and 10 days. Bale therefore looks to be facing a race to be ready for the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid next Tuesday, which follows a Premier League game at Wigan this weekend.
He will be carefully assessed in the intervening period but Spurs have stressed that he did not experience any pain after taking part in a light session on Monday.
Head of Medical Services Wayne Diesel told the club's official website: "Gareth did not report any hamstring issues when we assessed our players after our fixture with West Ham United which means he was free to report for international duty, nor did the Football Association of Wales raise any problems with us prior to his first training session with the national team on Tuesday following two days of rest.
"He was passed fit to train by the FAW medical team and it was only after 40 minutes of his first training session on Tuesday, which included some high intensity runs, Gareth complained of tightness in his right hamstring and was pulled out of the remainder of the session as a precaution.
"We requested the player be sent immediately for a scan which subsequently revealed the hamstring strain that forced his withdrawal from the squad. Gareth has returned to the Lodge and taken part in controlled straight-line running so we could assess him.
"We sent him for an ultrasound scan examination this afternoon and that has confirmed the presence of a minor grade one hamstring strain. Gareth has reported no pain or stiffness after taking part in the running this morning and we shall continue to monitor him and see how he responds to his conditioning programme throughout the week."
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