Ryan Giggs has played down the severity of Gareth Bale’s knee problem after leaving the forward out of his latest Wales squad but admits he ‘wasn’t quite right’ for their upcoming Nations League clashes with the Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria.
Bale suffered the injury while playing for Wales in the last international break and the 31-year-old hasn’t yet featured for Tottenham as a consequence after rejoining the north London club on loan from Real Madrid.
There had been faint hopes Bale could play a part this weekend when Spurs travel to Manchester United in the Premier League but Jose Mourinho has confirmed that the attacker will not be in contention at Old Trafford.
And Bale will also have to wait for his return to international football, with Giggs refusing to rush his talisman back and risk further injury.
‘We had conversations both with Gareth and the medical team and he’s just not right for this camp unfortunately,’ the Wales head coach explained.
‘It [the injury] was picked up in the first game, and then he played the second game and it was fine. But then after the 90 minutes against Bulgaria, he just felt it a little bit.
‘It’s nothing serious, but it’s just one to keep an eye on.
‘It’s just taken a bit of time to settle down and he just wasn’t quite right.’
Wales take on England for a much-anticipated friendly on October 8 ahead of their Nations League matches with the Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria and Giggs is not expecting Bale to be in the stands at Wembley.
‘I think Gareth will be concentrating on his new club now and getting himself right for when he is fit and when he is available to play for Spurs.’ the legendary former Manchester United winger added.
‘He’s working hard, very committed, very professional, very happy, but not yet for tomorrow or for the weekend,’ the Portuguese said.
‘I believe that the two weeks of the international break can be important weeks to his last phase of recovery and fitness problems, hopefully, to play when we’re back the weekend after the national teams.
‘We’ll see if it is possible to arrive there.’
