Gareth Bale - "Injury concerns have been blown out of proportion"

Rumours of him suffering from a “secret injury” have been dismissed by Gareth Bale who claims that his injury concerns have been blown out of proportion.

Bale came on late last night to feature in Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Malaga. It was the striker’s fourth appearance for Madrid in eight possible matches after recovering from his second leg injury since his 100 million euros move this summer.

“It’s nice to get over the little injury I had,” Bale said. “It’s been difficult getting back obviously after not having a preseason. It’s great to get back on the pitch, get a few minutes under my belt, and make a good impact.”

There was a report in the Marca claiming that the Wales international was suffering “a slipped disc on the L5 -S1 vertebrae and a bulge on the L4 -L5”. There was also possibility that the Welsh international could require surgery. However, via an official announcement on their website, Real Madrid went on to deny the report.

“It was just a little thigh strain,” Bale said. “I think the fact that I haven’t had a lot of game time and preseason games or training or running, you always pick up little niggles. I think everything was blown out of proportion massively.”

“I have to take it one step at a time,” Bale said. “I haven’t had too much training or games. It’s all about building me up now. Obviously, I will do what the manager says, but I need to introduce myself and prepare myself right now for the rest of the season.”