Bad back rules Bale out of Milan trip

Tottenham’s Welsh wizard Gareth Bale is expected to miss the Champions League Round of 16 first leg clash with AC Milan, according to his manager.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp revealed any chance of Bale playing at the San Siro on Tuesday is extremely doubtful, with the 21-year-old still recovering from a back problem.

The injury will rob Bale of a chance of playing in Italy again, where he wowed fans with a stunning hat-trick in Tottenham’s 4-3 loss to European champions Inter Milan in October.

“Gareth is not too far away. He’s not going to be fit, I don’t think, for Tuesday, but he’s not too bad,” Redknapp said after his side’s 2-1 win at Sunderland on Saturday.

“The specialists have seen it, he’s had an epidural injection. Peter Crouch has had the same problem and he is fine – in fact, his back looked a lot worse on the scan. ”

“He shouldn’t be too long, but Tuesday may be just a bit too soon for him.”

Redknapp admitted losing Bale for the match would be a blow and a mental boost for the North London club’s opponents.

“You saw what Gareth did against Inter Milan, when he terrorised them, really, and that would be in their minds an awful lot, I’m sure, if you asked them,” he said.

“Everybody in Italy talks about Bale – I went over and watched a game and everyone was asking me: ‘Is Bale fit? Is Bale fit?’ He would scare them to death, for sure.”

But the news is not all bad for Tottenham, with Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart likely to play despite missing Saturday’s trip to The Stadium of Light, where Spurs won thanks to a stunning volley from Niko Kranjcar.