Bale, Gallas out for Spurs

Harry Redknapp will be missing influential duo Gareth Bale and William Gallas when Tottenham travel to play Wigan on Saturday.

But the Spurs boss has stressed the importance of keeping alive their chances of finishing in the top four.

Tottenham have struggled to find their best form in their past three league games and have picked up only two points against relegation strugglers Blackpool, Wolves and West Ham.

The north London club have slipped out of the top four and have now fallen four points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.

But despite the importance of facing Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday night, Redknapp believes his side cannot afford to drop any more points if they are to stand any chance of playing in the prestigious European competition again next season.

“They are all focused, they know how important it is for us to make that top four again,” he said.

“We have worked hard all year at it and have been fighting on both fronts. We have always been in the top five all season and it has not been through a lack of effort in trying to stay up there.”

“The game is all important for us. We have to look to get Champions League football for sure next year, so we have to keep picking up points. Wigan is a vital game for us.”

Although Bale is expected to have recovered from a hamstring injury to play against Real Madrid, Gallas is now facing a race against time to prove his fitness as he is suffering with a knee injury.

Gallas has already been for two scans this week to assess the damage and broke down once again when he attempted to kick a ball on Friday morning.

I couldn’t be sure (if he will be fit for Madrid). At the moment, he can’t kick a ball,” Redknapp said.

“His knee is sore. He has had two scans this week. The first scan he had didn’t look too bad and he went out training but didn’t feel good.”

“He had another scan and went out this morning and did some running but when he went to strike the ball he had problems.”

“I’ve got two central defenders left, Sebastien Bassong and Michael Dawson and hope they don’t get injured.”