Toshack sweats on Bale fitness

John Toshack would probably not regard it as a right and proper build-up to an important Wales international if he did not have at least one injury to an important player to worry about. And this morning Gareth Bale will have a fitness test to assess whether an ankle knock will mean him sitting out tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier in Germany.

The 19-year-old’s absence would be a cruel blow for Toshack who displayed his eagerness to start the Spurs left-back by taking him along on yesterday’s flight to Moechengladbach regardless of the injury he picked up in Saturday‘s 2-0 defeat of Liechtenstein. Bale was many people’s idea as the star performer in the opening victory against Azerbaijan and then against Russia, even though he fluffed a penalty in Moscow.

Should Bale miss out then Sam Ricketts would step in. The Hull man would likely find himself as part of a five-man defence as Toshack reverts to his favoured formation. The main dilemma the manager has is whether to deploy West Ham’s James Collins as one of his three centre-halves after nine months out with ligament damage.

While Derby’s Lewin Nyatanga did enough for the under-21s against England last Friday to prove his fitness following his own lay-off, Collins was only given 10 minutes the next day at the Millennium Stadium. “The difficult one is whether Collins can handle a game like Germany after so long out,” said Toshack.

Up front he has all but admitted that Bellamy, the captain who returned himself from injury on the weekend, will be deployed as the lone-striker. Toshack has released the highly-rated Wolves 18-year-old, Sam Vokes, to appear in tonight’s under-21 play-off decider at Villa Park.

Meanwhile, there was encouraging news for Toshack on arriving in Germany. Michael Ballack, the Chelsea midfielder, did not train yesterday because of troublesome right calf. However, the German press was reporting Ballack's sit-out as a mere "precaution".

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