Wolves vs Tottenham Hotspur preview - Bench duty for Bale

Posted Sunday, March 06, 2011 by PA

Harry Redknapp plans to hand Gareth Bale a place on the Tottenham bench for Sunday's match against Wolves in order for the Welshman to prove his fitness ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with AC Milan.

The winger has been out for seven weeks with a back injury but could come on for the last 30 minutes of the game at Molineux, according to Redknapp.

The Spurs boss is without Rafael van der Vaart (calf) for Sunday's game, while Vedran Corluka (ankle), Jonathan Woodgate (groin), Younes Kaboul (knee) and Tom Huddlestone (ankle) remain sidelined.

Jermain Defoe picked up a minor ankle knock during the club's warm-weather training camp in Dubai this week but he is now back in training and is available for selection, though Ledley King (groin) is unlikely to feature.

Redknapp will urge his team not to restrict their attacking principles and insist they throw everything they have got at AC Milan when they take on the Italian giants on Wednesday.

Redknapp's team hold a 1-0 lead over Milan thanks to Peter Crouch's late strike in the first leg of the last-16 tie in the San Siro two weeks ago.

The club's debut season in the Champions League has been characterised by a series of stunning attacking performances which has seen them rack up 25 goals in nine pulsating matches.

At the same time, they have shipped 14 goals at the other end, leading to suggestions they will find it hard not to concede an away goal on Wednesday night despite the first-leg shut-out.

But Redknapp insists that with a squad blessed with the attacking talents of Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart, he will find it impossible to tell his side to sit back and hold out for a goalless draw.

"When you have that advantage in a two-legged game, if you sit back and think you have the lead then you find yourself in trouble," Redknapp said.

"We have to treat it as a one-off and we have to go for it.

"We're at home and we have to go and try to win the game. It's not natural for us to sit on a 1-0 lead for 90 minutes.

"We will pick an attacking team and have a go at them, that's how we have got to play."

The first leg of the match was marred by ugly scenes which included a horror tackle from Matthieu Flamini on Vedran Corluka and a Gennaro Gattuso headbutt on Spurs' assistant Joe Jordan.

Gattuso received a four-match ban for his actions, but Flamini will play at White Hart Lane, where the former Arsenal man is guaranteed to get a hostile reception.

Gattuso's agent claimed his client clashed with Jordan after the Scot made a "racist" comment towards him - an accusation which Jordan vehemently denies.

Gattuso will not travel to London for Wednesday's game and Redknapp now believes the matter has been closed.

"I think Joe has moved on from it now," he said.

Wolves have a number of injury concerns.

Dave Edwards and Dave Jones both have leg injuries, although the latter may recover by Sunday.

Steven Mouyokolo is out after hurting his knee in training.

Ronald Zubar is also out with a sore back, while Stephen Hunt has not recovered from a calf strain.

Long-term absentee Michael Kightly played 45 minutes of a reserve match on Thursday, but no date has been set for his return, and on-loan midfielder Jamie O'Hara is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy believes the team that gets relegated in 18th place could do so with the highest ever points score since the division slimmed down to 20 teams in 1995/96.

He said: "It's 10 in a bed at the moment, so it could happen," he said.

"It could be a silly one.

"Nobody knows what the last knockings of the season will bring."

West Ham were relegated in 2002/03 with 42 points, 12 more than Burnley, who finished in 18th place last season.

And with six points currently separating 19th and 10th positions, McCarthy believes that any number of sides could find themselves in a relegation battle as the season draws to a close.

"I'm not even convinced it's between the bottom three or four teams," he said.

"I think there's somebody above that might just slide into it.

"You lose a couple on the bounce then all of sudden you're in the bottom three and you wonder how it's happened.

"I think it's going to be more than ever."