Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insisted the injury suffered by talisman Gareth Bale was not as bad as it looked, after the Welshman had to be taken off on a stretcher in the 2-2 draw with Basel in their Europa League quarterfinal first leg.
There were audible gasps at White Hart Lane as Bale, the man who has single-handedly kept Spurs near the top the English Premier League table, rolled his ankle nastily, while battling with Basel substitute David Degen.
The 23-year-old looked in some pain while undergoing treatment on the pitch, and had to be stretchered off. Bale will take further tests on Friday to determine the extent of the injury, which Villas-Boas hopes is not too serious.
The Tottenham boss was adamant Bale will not ruled out for the rest of the season, saying the forward stands a chance of facing Manchester City on April 21, meaning he will miss only two games -- the Premier League fixture against Everton Sunday and next week's second leg trip to Basel.
"Gareth has rolled over his ankle and we still need to get assessment that we can only have on Friday," Villas-Boas said. "But it shouldn't be as bad as it looks in the images.
"He has torn that ligament before and there's nothing to tear now. There is lots of swelling and the pain is obviously very, very big but we hope to assess him.
"There is a big possibility he is going to be able to make it for the Man City game and he will only miss the next two games, but assurances we can only give you tomorrow (Friday) when we have seen the scan.
"I do not want to mislead you. Friday we will know better but I'm pretty confident that Gareth will definitely play again this season. From the medical department's first analysis, everything is positive."
Goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Gylfi Sigurdsson cancelled out strikes from Valentin Stocker and Fabian Frei to give Spurs some real hope of making it to the semifinals.
Villas-Boas was confident his team could cope without Bale.
"These injuries are part of the season," Villas-Boas added. "They're obviously big, big misses but we have a big squad and the possibility to adapt. (Clint) Dempsey is back and (Lewis) Holtby had a very, very good game tonight.
"We're still in the frame, we don't have to make any adaptations to play against Everton and we'll just wait until the boys are back to make us stronger.
"We've played without Bale before and we've got the results that we needed; that have put us in the position we are in the league, also.
"We recognize the form the player is in but the squad will step up a level in his absence. Key players are always missed by any team but we have played without him before."
