Gareth Bale Injury: Andre Villas-Boas hopes Gareth Bale's ankle injury is not bad

Bale had to be stretchered off towards the end of Tottenham's 2-2 Europa League draw with Basle at White Hart Lane and Spurs fans feared his superb campaign might be set to end prematurely.

But Villas-Boas said: "He rolled on his ankle and, at the moment, there is a lot of pain, but hopefully it is not as bad as it could have been.

"We still need to get assessment that we can only have on Friday."

Bale picked up the injury in stoppage time towards the end of a thrilling tie, going over on his ankle when he challenged for the ball and staying down, clearly in great pain, before being carried off.

Photos of the injury showed Bale's foot bent almost at right angles to his leg but Villas-Boas added: "It shouldn't be as bad as it looks, because Gareth has torn that ligament before and there's nothing to tear now.

"There is lots of swelling and the pain is obviously very, very big, but we hope to assess him tomorrow.

"There is a big, big possibility that, if we stay positive, he will be fit for the Man City game (on 21 April) and it will only take him out of two games.

"We've played without Bale before and we've got the results that we needed, results that have put us in the position we are in the league.

"We recognise the form the player is in and the squad will step up a level for his absence. Key players are always missed by any team but we have played without him before."

Gareth Bale's ankle injury

They also lost Aaron Lennon to a first-half injury and William Gallas had to go off towards the end, while Jermain Defoe missed the match with a muscular problem that is set to keep him out for two more games.

Fitness concerns aside, manager Andre Villas-Boas will be pleased with the manner in which his team fought back from two down.

Basel reached last season's Champions League knockout stage at Manchester United's expense and it was easy to see why as a line-up combining youth and experience utilised their slick brand of passing football to hit Tottenham with a series of counter-attacks.

Fabian Schar was first to test Brad Friedel with a stinging drive and Marco Streller was also denied by the Spurs keeper.