Chris Coleman believes Gareth Bale will break Ian Rush’s record and become Wales’ all-time leading goalscorer in the current World Cup qualifying campaign after the Real Madrid forward struck twice against Moldova to take his tally for his country to 24. Bale’s double helped Wales to a comfortable 4-0 victory, lifted him above Ivor Allchurch and Trevor Ford into outright second place and, most significantly, within four goals of Rush.

He has now scored 20 goals in his last 31 appearances for his country – only four arrived in the first 31 matches – and Coleman predicts that Rush’s record will fall by the time Wales finish their campaign at home against the Republic of Ireland in October next year.

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“He will break it,” the Wales manager said. “If you look at his record in the last two years, you would have to say he has every chance of doing it in this campaign. Knowing Bale-o, he won’t even know about that [the record]. He comes along and he just fits in with the furniture and gets on with the job. He may know that he’s four goals away but he won’t think that he’s got to get them in this campaign, he’ll just go and do what he does. But there’s every chance, in my opinion, that he could do that in the next nine games.”

Bale also set up Wales’ opening goal for Sam Vokes on an evening when Joe Allen scored his first for his country. It was a wonderful cross from the right that Vokes converted. “When you’ve got a Gareth Bale on the pitch, in a second he can change your life,” Coleman said. “One pinpoint cross, in an area of the pitch where Moldova had plenty of bodies, a great header and then it’s 1-0.”

On the back of Sam Allardyce’s comments about Wayne Rooney and the freedom that the England manager is prepared to give his captain, Coleman was asked whether Bale has a similar licence to roam for Wales. “We start him in a position and make sure he knows the formation and what the tactical game plan is.

“But I can’t tie down somebody like him,” he said. “Without the ball he knows where he needs to be and he’s got a job. With the ball, it’s game on, whatever he wants to do.”