Euro 2016: 'Don't worry, I'm not injured,' says Gareth Bale, after training alone before Portugal game

Bale assured the Welsh public who watched the Belgium quarter final broadcast in record numbers that there was nothing to worry about

Gareth Bale enjoys his latest triumph as Wales reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016 (Getty)

Wales’ Gareth Bale revealed on Monday that he had trained alone, 48 hours out from the team’s historic European Championship with Portugal, to give himself extra recovery time to face the side captained by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Bale assured the Welsh public who watched the Belgium quarter final broadcast in record numbers that there was nothing to worry about. “It just an extra day recovery,” Bale said. “You get stiff after games, which is normal, so it was just a bit more recovery, nothing to be worried about and we continue as normal.”

Bale was asked seven questions about Ronaldo during his press conference and steadfastly refused to discuss their relationship, ahead of the game which brings them up against each other in Lyon on Wednesday.

This was Bale’s fourth press conference and he has become a strong articulator of the team ethos, while Ronaldo is yet to appear and speak at a Portugal event.

Asked why he had been speaking more often than Ronaldo, Bale said: “I’m not too sure. I can’t comment on how he’s feeling, what he’s doing. I am sure he has his reasons for doing what he did, that’s entirely up to him.

“Of course he’s a fantastic player, everybody knows what he can do. But we have always spoken about what we do, what we do ourselves as a team. We don’t worry about the opposition. We know a lot of teams we’ve played against have got very good individuals but, for us, it’s about the team. If the team performs well we are able to shut out a lot of threats.”

Bale said he and Ronaldo had not spoken since it emerged their teams were to play each other in the semi-final. Asked if he thought Ronaldo was fit, he said: "Yeah I don't see why not. It's not just us, for everyone it's been a long season. We have some guys who've played 64, 65 games now. It's a long season for everyone.”