Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insists he has no qualms about throwing Gareth Bale in to his team for Sunday's huge clash with Manchester City.
Bale has been out of action since Basle's David Degen stood on his right ankle 15 days ago, causing ligament damage. The fact that his ankle was bent almost at a right angle to his leg raised fears that the 23-year-old star would not play again this season.
An initial diagnosis of three weeks on the sidelines seemed optimistic at the time, but Bale has been training with the Spurs squad for the last two days and the in-form forward now looks set to be fit for this weekend's game at White Hart Lane. And the Spurs boss said: "I am pretty confident (Bale will be fit)."
He added: "He's made good progress from the beginning of the week to be training with the team so I think he will (be) definitely up for selection."
Bale has scored 27 goals for club and country this term, earning him a place on the PFA Player of the Year shortlist. The Welshman was hindered by injury for part of last season, and also missed part of this campaign with a hamstring complaint, but the Portuguese denied recalling the player so soon would cause more damage to Bale's ankle.
"No I don't think so," the 35-year-old said.
Villas-Boas reported further good news from the treatment room regarding Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe.
Lennon also limped out of the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final defeat to Basle with a knee injury and Defoe has missed the last two games with a pelvis complaint, but Villas-Boas was optimistic about their chances of playing on Sunday against the reigning Premier League champions.
"There has been a good recovery from Defoe so he's trained with the team all week," said Villas-Boas, who is without Sandro, Younes Kaboul and William Gallas for Sunday's game.
"Lennon has been recovering progressively. He hasn't trained with the team yet so there is one more training session to go. All of them are in with a chance of making the selection."
Source: PA
