Tottenham returnee Bale out of Wales squad due to knee injury

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Tottenham returnee Bale out of Wales squad due to knee injury image

Gareth Bale has missed out on the Wales roster for his country's upcoming three matches due to the lingering effects of a knee injury.

The Tottenham forward suffered the injury during international duty earlier this month, with Wales defeating Finland and Bulgaria in Nations League action.

Since those two matches Bale has made a high-profile move back to Spurs from Real Madrid after originally leaving the north London outfit in 2013 to join up with the Spanish giants. 

The 31-year-old, however, has yet to make his debut for Jose Mourinho's side and his international boss Ryan Giggs has now confirmed that Bale is set to miss games against England, Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria.

"Unfortunately since our last camp, Gareth's not trained," Giggs said. "He's only just started getting on the grass the last few days. We've had conversations with Gareth and the medical team and he's just not quite right for this camp unfortunately.

"It wasn't a big injury and of course Gareth always keeps himself fit so he's able to come back as soon as the injury is right.

"With him going to a new club we had to think seriously not only about the short term but the long term, get Gareth back fit, get him playing."

Wales will face England in a friendly on October 8 before Nations League matches against Ireland on October 11 and Bulgaria on October 14. 

In other roster news, Rhys Norrington-Davies has earned his first senior call-up for Wales while Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey returns to the squad for the first time since November. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Mourinho declared Bale "very committed" and "very happy" with his return to Spurs, while also confirming he would not play a part against Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League on Thursday or against Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

"Bale cannot play tomorrow or on the weekend, that I can confirm," the Spurs manager said. "He's working hard, very committed, very professional, very happy, but not yet for tomorrow or for the weekend.

"I believe that the two weeks of the international break can be important weeks to his last phase of recovery and fitness problems, hopefully, to play when we're back the weekend after the national teams. We'll see if it is possible to arrive there. From yesterday, it's just fatigue, no injured players, no."

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