Injury ends Bale season

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has confirmer have Gareth Bale will not play again this season after suffering ankle ligament damage.

The young Welshman suffered the injury as Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw against Blackpool at the weekend, a result which has effectively ended their bid to capture fourth place and secure another Champions League spot next season.

Bale has been a star performer for the north London club, but he will miss the final three games following a reckless challenge from Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam.

Despite the major absence of Bale from the team, Redknapp is refusing to attack Adam over the incident and hopes that his star midfielder will be available for the start of next season.

Redknapp said: “He won’t play again this season, we’ll keep him out now, he’s got a lot of swelling.”

“The lad who made the challenge is not a nasty or aggressive type of player. Charlie Adam has had a great season, he’s a good footballer, it was a bad challenge but he wouldn’t go into hurt anybody, he’s not that type of lad.”

“It was a badly timed challenge, he was probably over-excited at the time with the state of the game and them fighting for their lives. He came in and apologised to Gareth and just said he genuinely didn’t mean to make contact with his ankle.”

“He missed the ball by quite a bit but what can you do, it’s done. During the season, what can I say, the lad has probably been kicked more than he’s kicked other people.”

While Tottenham supporters will be concerned about Bale’s absence, they will be more worried over Heurelho Gomes’ inclusion for Tuesday nights encounter after the Brazilian committed another trademark error on Saturday.

“He’s made one or two blips lately and they have been highlighted. But it can happen to any goalkeeper,” Redknapp said.

“There is not a goalkeeper in the world who hasn’t gone through a spell where they’ve made one or two mistakes.”

Tottenham go into the game six points behind City and Redknapp said it will take a miracle for his side to finish in the top four and secure a Champions League place.

“It will take a miracle (to finish fourth). (City manager) Roberto Mancini has got a fantastic squad,” Redknapp said.

“They’re in a great position. They are six points ahead of us and they have a better goal difference by miles.”

Tom Huddlestone (ankle), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (hamstring), Alan Hutton (knee), Ledley King (groin), Jonathan Woodgate (calf) and Wilson Palacios (knee) all miss out on the game at Eastlands.