Gareth Bale at heart of Tottenham Hotspur's mounting injury crisis

Posted Friday, April 01, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Harry Redknapp will 'leave it late' to decide attacker's fitness
• Spurs face Wigan before Real Madrid in Champions League

Gareth Bale at heart of Tottenham Hotspur's mounting injury crisis
Tottenham's Gareth Bale withdrew from the Wales squad to face England last weekend after damaging a hamstring.

Harry Redknapp is unsure whether Gareth Bale will recover from a hamstring injury to play against Wigan Athletic on Saturday or Real Madrid next week in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. The Tottenham Hotspur manager is facing a mounting fitness crisis before the club's biggest match since the league and FA Cup Double was won 50 years ago.

Redknapp could have only two recognised central defenders available for selection against José Mourinho's Real. He said that William Gallas had had a scan on his knee, after picking up an injury last weekend, and that Ledley King's season is almost certainly over. The club captain needs a second groin operation as he battles to save his injury-torn career. If Gallas fails to make it, only Sébastien Bassong and Michael Dawson would be available as regular central defensive options. Vedran Corluka, who usually plays on the right of defence, would be Redknapp's only recognised standby.

"We started the year with six central defenders here, now we have two," Redknapp said. "We have lost Ledley King, it looks like he will have to have an operation that will finish his season. Jonathan Woodgate was making good progress but got a calf injury in a friendly against Barnet and Younes Kaboul is still out with a thigh strain. William Gallas has been for a scan on his knee today. He struggled at the weekend and we are now down to having just Michael Dawson and Sébastien Bassong."

Regarding Bale, who suffered a hamstring pull in the run-up to last weekend's internationals, Redknapp said: "Gareth worked with the fitness coaches and he looked OK this morning. Whether he is OK to play two games is doubtful. We will have a look at that tomorrow and decide which way to go with it. We are going to leave it late. We'd love to have him fit but if he isn't fit then we can't play him."

The loss of the Welsh attacker, who scored a memorable hat-trick against Internazionale at San Siro earlier this season in the Champions League, would deal a huge blow to Spurs and hand Mourinho a significant psychological boost. In revelatory form this season, the Welshman had promised that he could improve. His ambition is to emulate Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who between them have won the past three World Player of the Year awards.

"This is probably the best I have played in my career," Bale said. "I believe that there is a lot more to come, I have a lot more to learn and I keep working hard in training and games. I am still young. If you look at the likes of Messi and Ronaldo, those are the levels that you want to be getting to. If you play every week, there is no better way to learn than that [and] I have learned new things every week."

Faced with uncertainty over Bale, Redknapp did his best to sound bullish. "We have other good players here who can play on the left," he said. "Niko Kranjcar has just gone off and had a couple of games for Croatia. Steven Pienaar is fit now too."

There was better news regarding Aaron Lennon. The winger felt a slight hamstring twinge while training with the England squad earlier this week, before pulling out of Tuesday's game against Ghana, but he has completed two full training sessions at Spurs Lodge.

"Aaron is OK. He trained this morning. There isn't any problem with him," Redknapp said. "He met up with England and stayed with them for 10 days, felt his hamstring was tight and we didn't want to risk him going so he pulled out of the squad."