Gareth Bale an injury worry for Wales after missing Real Madrid match
Monday 2 October 2017 01:09, UK
Wales face an anxious wait over Gareth Bale after the forward was ruled out of Real Madrid's La Liga clash with Espanyol on Sunday.
Real announced that Bale would miss out when their 18-man squad for the game was announced on Sunday morning.
Boss Zinedine Zidane said at his pre-match press conference that Bale had suffered a calf muscle strain against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last Tuesday.
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Bale left the pitch late on after scoring in Real's 3-1 victory, with the problem originally being cited as a case of cramp.
"It's muscle fatigue, but we don't like to take any risks," Zidane said on Saturday.
Asked if Bale would link up with Wales on Monday as planned, Zidane said: "There's no issue between Madrid and the Welsh national team.
"His state of fitness will determine whether he joins up with the national squad or not."
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Wales' final two World Cup Qualifiers are away to Georgia on Friday and at home to the Republic of Ireland three days later, with both games live on Sky Sports.
Chris Coleman's side are currently in second place in Group D, four points behind leaders Serbia and one point above Ireland.
