Gareth Bale left OUT of Wales squad for England clash and Nations League games due to knee injury

Gareth Bale has been left out of the Wales squad for next month's clash with England due to a knee injury sustained during the last international break.

The forward, who has recently returned to Tottenham on loan from Real Madrid, was not deemed fit enough to be included by Ryan Giggs in the squad for the friendly at Wembley on October 8, or the Nations League fixtures in Ireland on October 11 and Bulgaria on October 14.

Bale did the damage during Wales' 1-0 win in Finland on September 3, yet felt the pain only in the win over Bulgaria three days later, and has not trained since.

The 31-year-old is yet to play for Spurs since his return and Jose Mourinho confirmed on Wednesday that Bale would not be picked for Wales - but did expect him to be available following the international break.

'Bale cannot play tomorrow or even on the weekend, that I can confirm,' said Mourinho, on the eve of a Europa League play-off against Maccabi Haifa and ahead of the Premier League clash against Manchester United on Sunday.

'He is working very hard, very committed, very professional, very happy but not yet ready.'

Bale watched on from the stands on Tuesday night as Spurs beat Chelsea on penalties to progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

'I believe the two weeks of internationals can be important weeks for his last phase of recovering and fitness problem,' stated Mourinho. 'Hopefully to play when we're back to the weekend after national teams. Let's see if it's possible to arrive there.

'I didn't speak with Ryan Giggs either but it looks like he understands the player and know how important this period is for the player, and it looks like his decision is not to bring him to the national team.

'In fact, he is not ready, he couldn't play for them, but to be there and to lose the work he could do with us would be very important for the player.

'He belongs to Tottenham and belongs to the Welsh national team and it looks like he will have this period to work specifically and it looks like he will be back in good conditions.'