If Bale is fit, he plays for us – Coleman

Gareth Bale GARETH Bale’s availability for Wales will not be compromised by the latest injury of his Real Madrid career, according to Chris Coleman.

Bale has not played since September 26 because of a calf problem but he had been stepping up his recovery and a return to action was imminent.

But the 28-year-old forward suffered a fibrillar rupture to the adductor muscle of his left leg on Thursday and could be sidelined for a further six weeks.

It is another blow to Bale’s injury-hit Real career with the Welshman having missed 91 of their 250 games since joining from Tottenham in 2013 for a then-world record fee of £85.3million.

Bale sat out Wales’ 2-0 friendly defeat to France in Paris on Friday and his availability could become an issue when the Dragons play at the China Cup in March.

It is understood Wales will receive a greater participation fee if their top players make the 12,000-mile round trip to the Chinese city of Nanning.

But the four-team tournament comes just before the quarter-finals of the Champions League, when Real will expect to be defending the trophy they have won for the last two seasons.

Wales boss Coleman, however, was adamant over the issue of Bale’s availability for Wales.

He said: “Hopefully, Gareth gets back before Christmas or just after and we’ve got two or three months before the China Cup.

“We expect all our players if they are fit to play for their club – then they are fit to play for us.”