Andre Villas-Boas hopeful over Gareth Bale injury

Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has claimed that Gareth Bale's ankle injury is "not as bad as it could have been".

The winger was stretchered off during Spurs' 2-2 draw at home to Basel in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night.

"He rolled on his ankle," Villas-Boas told BBC Sport. "At the moment there is a lot of pain, but hopefully it's not as bad as it could have been."

Bale is expected to miss Tottenham's Premier League encounter with Everton on Sunday.