CHARLIE Adam has insisted there is no bad blood between Gareth Bale and himself despite the pair being involved in three separate incidents in the past two years.
The Welshman described Adam as a "coward" for a tackle he made on him during a pre-season friendly between Tottenham and Liverpool last summer. That resulted in an ankle injury and Bale saying he would refuse any apology offered. In 2011, Bale had been sidelined for three months after another Adam tackle damaged his ankle ligaments. The pair were then linked again when Bale ghosted past Adam to score Wales' winner against Scotland in Cardiff five months ago.
But Adam, now with Stoke City, said that there was no personal problem between the two of them and he would happily swap shirts with the Welshman if the opportunity arose at the end of Scotland's World Cup tie at Hampden tomorrow night.
When asked about Bale, Adam found time for a joke: "There's no problem between us . . . I let him score the last time so things should be okay. We've had two incidents. He's a top player, he will probably go on to one of the top clubs. He plays for a great club in Tottenham but he could go to a Barcelona, Real Madrid or Manchester United easily.
"I spoke [to him] during the game when we played them in Wales and there's no problem. We've moved on. His career has blossomed and he's playing at the top of his game. He's going to be dangerous on Friday, but hopefully we can cause them a lot of problems.
"He is a top player and I respect that. I don't have any grudges. He is one of those players that you want to play against. He is one of the select few in the world at the moment who are at the top of their game. It's a joy to watch him sometimes. Hopefully he's quiet on Friday."
Adam was widely criticised for switching off and allowing Bale to get away from him and score the goal which brought down Scotland in Cardiff. What hurt about the reaction, he said yesterday, was the implication that he wasn't bothered about what had happened.
"That was the biggest thing, people saying I didn't care," he said. "I was as gutted as anybody after the game. I do care. There is probably no-one more excited about joining up and playing for their country as me. I love playing for Scotland and hopefully on Friday night we can change our fortunes and get a win."
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