• Euro 2012 qualifying

Speed sidesteps Bale injury row

ESPNsoccernet staff
March 25, 2011
Gareth Bale has a hamstring injury © PA Photos
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Wales manager Gary Speed has moved to avoid a potential club versus country row by describing a dispute with Harry Redknapp over the fitness of Gareth Bale as a "misunderstanding".

Bale has been ruled out of Saturday's Euro 2012 qualifier against England with a hamstring injury, and Speed said on Thursday that Bale had picked up the problem at Spurs prior to his arrival with the national team.

However, Redknapp was adamant the winger was feeling fine after completing 90 minutes for Tottenham at the weekend.

"I wouldn't have let him go if he had an injury," Redknapp told the Daily Mail. "There was no sign of a hamstring injury. He's not come in after the game and said his hamstrings were tight. When he left here on Saturday, off he went and he certainly wasn't injured."

However, Speed explained in his press conference on Friday: "I haven't spoken to Harry. We swapped telephone messages and everything is fine. It was a misunderstanding so that has been nipped in the bud and that is fine."

It is the second time that Wales have been forced to clarify their position to avoid angering Tottenham, with Speed's assistant Raymond Verheijen having to state that a reference to "incompetent amateurs" on his Twitter account was directed at journalists who reported Bale trained on Wednesday, rather than the Premier League club.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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