Gareth Bale did not feature in Wales' defeat to Macedonia because of a groin strain, and has gone for a scan to determine whether he will be involved in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier with Serbia.

Bale, the world's most expensive player following his £86m move from Tottenham to Real Madrid, was an unused substitute when Wales lost 2-1 in Skopje on Friday.

Chris Coleman had insisted Bale was injured when questioned on his decision not to use him on Friday but only revealed the problem on Monday.

He said: "We had a conversation with Gareth before the game, he had a tight groin from the day before and we could not take that chance. As we speak he has gone to have another scan on it to clear his mind so he knows everything is alright."

Bale has not played since mid-July owing to a foot problem and his latest injury concern comes a matter of days before he is due to make his Madrid debut at Villarreal on Saturday.

Coleman revealed the 24-year-old suffered the problem during Wales' training session in Skopje on Thursday, at which he was not present after losing his passport. The manager is still hopeful the results of the scan will allow Bale to play some part against Serbia in Cardiff.

"We went into the Macedonia game with everything great," Coleman said. "Gareth gets his move to Real Madrid, everything is positive. Then Gareth picks up a strain in training and can't play in the game, which is disappointing.

"He was never going to be available to start either of these games but at best he would have come on for maybe half an hour. There is a small chance of that tomorrow night, we will see when we get the scan results back and how he feels."

With Bale certain not to start against Serbia, Wales have a number of other injury issues to face.

The Crystal Palace midfielder Jonathan Williams has been ruled out after suffering an ankle injury against Macedonia, while the centre-half Sam Ricketts is also a major doubt. Ashley Williams is suspended after picking up a yellow card in Skopje but no decision has been taken over who will replace the captain. Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy are likely to be the leading contenders.