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Gareth Bale has branded Charlie Adam a “coward” for the challenge Spurs claim could have put their man in hospital.

The Tottenham star fears he may miss the start of the season after limping out of a Baltimore friendly following another late foul that the Welshman claimed was a deliberate attempt to injure him.

Adam has history with Bale, after a shocking challenge in 2011 snapped the Welshman’s ankle ligaments and sidelined him for three months.

The feud continued last season when the midfielder was dismissed at White Hart Lane for another bad tackle.

A frustrated Bale directed a furious attack on the Liverpool player as he left the Ravens Stadium on crutches with his ankle in a protective boot support, following the pre-season showdown with the Reds.

“From what I’ve seen of him on pitch, I think he’s a bit of a coward,” said the Wales star insisted afterwards.

“I was surprised to see a challenge like that in a friendly. We’re all over here to build our fitness and get a good workout and what he did was over the top, to be honest.

“But some people are like that and it’s just wrong.”

Spurs were furious about the foul in a friendly game used for conditioning, with boss Andre Villas Boas insisted the Liverpool man should have been dismissed for a “very, very nasty challenge”.

(Image: Getty)

The Portuguese coach is puzzled by the bad blood Adam has shown, with Bale seemingly targeted by the midfielder without provocation.

The Tottenham winger will have a scan in New York on Monday before the friendly match with the Red Bulls, and he fears it could be bad news for the start of the new season.

“My ankle is sore - very, very sore. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes. I’ll probably have to have a scan,” he said.

A shocking feud has developed between the two players, yet Bale is ­genuinely puzzled – and intensely angry – about the reasons he seems to have been targeted by the former Blackpool skipper. “There are pictures on the internet of what he did before when he snapped all my ankle ­ligaments,” said Bale.

“I was out for three months that time and one player told me he went out to do the same thing to me again.

“Seriously, I haven’t ever done anything to him. He’s obviously come for me twice now – and he’s got me twice.

“I would have understood it had it been a slightly mis-timed tackle, even though it was just a friendly. But the ball was 10 yards past him already and was nowhere near him when he came through my ankle.”

After the game, Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas was also furious with Adam, and insisted the Liverpool player should make a public apology for the challenge.

Yet Bale is so unimpressed by the man he branded a “coward”, he insisted that he will refuse point blank to accept any apology should it be extended.

“When someone makes a very bad tackle on you in a game you expect him to come up and ­apologise. But I’ve had no apology from him and I don’t really want one from him to be honest,” he said.

(Image: Getty)

“That’s what kind of person he is like. He’s done it before, so I’m not going to accept his apology.

“All I want to do is play my game and play it in the right way. It’s ­flattering when players try to take you out in a game but when it threatens your career, it becomes more serious that that.

“It’s unsportsmanlike and I don’t think any player should be like that.”

The incident completely overshadowed what was ­otherwise a cautious friendly between the two clubs in the searing heat of Baltimore, with temperatures touching 40 degrees.

Tottenham’s allegations about Adam are so serious that they could even prompt the FA to investigate, given a player claimed he was told Bale would be deliberately targeted.

Yet the Liverpool midfielder was unimpressed by Spurs’ claims, dismissing the ­opportunity to reply when asked afterwards.

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