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Owen Hargreaves has claimed that Tottenham star Gareth Bale is still “tentative” with his approach in games, suggesting there is still a nervousness about picking up an injury.

The Welsh attacker started on Thursday night during the the 2-0 home victory over Belgian side Royal Antwerp and was taken off just shy of the hour mark.

His long-range free-kick lead to the opening goal for striker Carlos Vinicius, while Giovani Lo Celso added a second with a delicate finish with the outside of his boot.

Jose Mourinho’s side qualified top of their Europa League group after earning three points, meaning they will be seeded next Monday for the Round of 32 draw.

The Spurs boss continued with his policy of rotation in European games to give some of his fringe players the chance to impress and Bale has started all six of the Europa League matches this season.

Asides from his stunning free-kick effort, the 31-year-old winger didn’t show too much quality during the contest and is only giving flashes of what he can do since he returned in the summer on loan from Real Madrid.

Hargreaves has given an explanation behind Bale’s latest performance and is still confident he can play a big role in the Spurs team moving forward.

“I think he’s still finding his way, but I think Gareth shows you there [with his free-kick] what he can give you in the blink of an eye,” Hargreaves told BT Sport 2 (10:10pm, 10 December).

“I don’t think he’s probably played enough and once he realises he can trust [his body] a bit more and change those gears, maybe not as explosive as the old Formula 1 car, but he can probably still be a Ferrari. I think it’s there. It won’t be in the frequency it used to be with the amount of sprints.

“When you sprint you’re worried about something going out there… He’s probably still finding his way and he doesn’t want to be out for four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks. So you’re a bit tentative with some of those things.”

TBR’s View:

The spotlight was always going to be on Bale following his return to North London, but he’s not quite made the impact he may have wanted and is still feeling his way back into English football.

It must be noted that the left-footer has had several different injuries during the past couple of years, something that is surely going to be in the back of his mind going into matches.

Fortunately there is no need to rush him into the Premier League XI with the team performing so well and sitting top of the table, but supporters are still anxiously waiting an explosive display from him.