Bale in race to face Real

Gareth Bale is facing a race against time to be fit for Tottenham's Champions League clash against Real Madrid after the club revealed he suffered a grade one hamstring strain while on international duty with Wales.

The 21-year-old withdrew from Gary Speed's squad to face England last Saturday after pulling up in training and he was sent for a scan on the injury on Monday.

Results revealed the winger had suffered a grade one strain - the recovery time for which usually stands from between seven and 10 days.

Spurs will continue to monitor Bale's condition ahead of this weekend's match against Wigan, but his participation in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Real next Tuesday could be in doubt if he does not respond well to the conditioning of the injury.

A statement on the club's website read: "Gareth has returned to Spurs Lodge and took part in controlled straight-line running so we could assess him. We sent him for an ultrasound scan examination on Monday afternoon and that has confirmed the presence of a minor grade one hamstring strain.

"Gareth has reported no pain or stiffness after taking part in the running and we shall continue to monitor him and see how he responds to his conditioning programme throughout the week.''

Tottenham became embroiled in a club versus country row with Wales after the Football Association of Wales (FAW) claimed that Bale had suffered the injury before reporting for international duty.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp hit back at those suggestions, claiming that the former Southampton winger was fully fit when he left Tottenham to join up with Wales after the club's 0-0 draw against West Ham.

Tottenham's head of medical services Wayne Diesel echoed Redknapp's claims on Monday evening, saying: "Gareth did not report any hamstring issues when we assessed our players after our fixture with West Ham United which means he was free to report for international duty, nor did the Football Association of Wales raise any problems with us prior to his first training session with the national team on Tuesday following two days of rest.

"He was passed fit to train by the FAW medical team and it was only after 40 minutes of his first training session on Tuesday, which included some high intensity runs, Gareth complained of tightness in his right hamstring and was pulled out of the remainder of the session as a precaution. "