It was always the plan to play 45, insists Bale
GARETH Bale ruled out any injury fears as his 100th appearance for Wales in their 5-1 FIFA World Cup qualifying victory over Belarus ended after 45 minutes.
Neco Williams, Ben Davies – with his first international goal after 68 appearances – and Connor Roberts added to an Aaron Ramsey brace as Wales made light work of Belarus in Cardiff on Saturday to move above the Czech Republic and into second place.
They are already guaranteed a World Cup play-off place through their Nations League results last year, and a positive result in their final qualifier at home to Belgium tomorrow could secure home advantage in a play-off semi-final in March.
Bale appeared confident of lining up against Belgium, who clinched top spot by beating Estonia 3-1 on Saturday, in Cardiff despite his landmark cap being cut short. The Real Madrid forward was playing his first match since September 8 following a hamstring tear.
“It was always the plan to play 45,” Bale said after teammate Chris Gunter becoming the second Welshman to win 100 caps.
“I’ve obviously been out for two months and it was always planned that if we were up in the game, I would come off and try to get ready for Tuesday and see how I feel.
“I was happy to get the reception before the game and enjoy the occasion. As much as I would have loved to have come off to an ovation, it would have been a bit greedy. The team is the most important thing. I’m happy to be back. It was a hard road to come back from injury and it was well worth it.”
Meanwhile, Scotland manager Steve Clarke stressed their Group F work was not done despite securing a World Cup play-off place with a 2-0 victory in Moldova on Friday.
Clarke’s men made sure of second spot behind Denmark with a well-deserved win in Chisinau.
John McGinn laid the ball off for Nathan Patterson to net his first Scotland goal in the 38th minute before the duo combined to set up Che Adams in the 65th minute.
Craig Gordon saved a penalty, below, after Patterson’s handball, but Scotland were otherwise pretty comfortable in the second half.
Scotland round off their games against the runaway group winners tonight, and the game could be significant in their quest for a home semi-final in March.
Clarke said: “It’s nice to be in the play-offs. We want to get through and get to Qatar. That’s the ultimate aim. But the players have been fantastic in this campaign.”
Elsewhere, Ian Baraclough felt his Northern Ireland side deserved to win by more after they needed an own goal to end their long wait for a Windsor Park victory by beating Lithuania 1-0 on Friday.
Northern Ireland dominated possession, but only had a Benas Satkus own goal to show for their efforts in Belfast. Baraclough said: “It was as good as we’ve been in a first half and it was disappointing not to come away with more.”