Wales desperate not to let Gareth Bale's injury overshadow crucial World Cup qualifiers
17-year-old Ben Woodburn is expected to earn his full debut
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Your support makes all the difference.Wales have moved to put the record straight on Gareth Bale's injury ahead of their crunch World Cup qualifier in Georgia.
Bale's calf problem has overshadowed the build-up to a game which is crucial to them making next month's play-offs.
The 28-year-old was ruled out of Wales' final qualifiers against Georgia and the Republic of Ireland following dialogue between Bale's club Real Madrid and his country.
Wales feared Bale could be out of action for several weeks after sending him for a scan and receiving the results, possibly even ruling him out of potential play-off games.
European champions Real said on Wednesday that Bale had been diagnosed with “swelling but no tear in the soleus muscle of his left leg” and could be back playing in two weeks.
Wales are keen to play down any talk of a club versus country row and boss Chris Coleman said: “Gareth turned up Sunday night with everybody else.
“He felt a bit of discomfort in his calf and we immediately scanned him at 8.30 on Monday morning. He's not trained with us or been in any session with us, not on the grass or the cool down. No session with us at all.
“He said he had discomfort and, like we would with any other player, we don't take the chance. We immediately scanned him.
“Unfortunately there's a bit of damage in his calf which could keep him out a week, two weeks, three weeks, we don't know. He's a Real Madrid player, so they'll be the ones to look after him.
“It's just unfortunate and bad timing. We all know he had a problem in his hamstring with Madrid and he was trying to get through that.
“Sometimes you can have a little bit of discomfort elsewhere. We have to wait and see how long - that news will come from Real Madrid.”
Second-placed Wales might need to win their final two games to make the play-offs, although four points could be enough if certain results in other groups go their way.
Despite Bale's absence, Coleman has plenty of attacking options with Liverpool teenager Ben Woodburn among them.
The 17-year-old scored the winner against Austria last month within five minutes of coming on as a second-half substitute and set up the first goal in a 2-0 win in Moldova three days later.
Asked if he had a 'Plan B' with Bale missing, Coleman replied: “When you've had players who've got a bit of history in the weeks and months building up to it, you have to think if this happens we can do this.
“We are used to missing Gareth, Aaron (Ramsey) and Joe (Allen). This is the ninth game and in six of them those three have not been on the pitch all together, but we have enough quality.”
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