Marine v Spurs – team news

Gareth Bale could be in the frame for our FA Cup third round tie at Marine on Sunday (5pm).

Out with a calf problem since our Carabao Cup quarter-final win at Stoke on 23 December – where he opened the scoring – Gareth returned to training on Friday and Jose Mourinho will now make a decision on his involvement after training on Saturday.

Speaking after training on Friday, Jose said: “Gareth trained today for first time with us, tomorrow the second time, and tomorrow after training we will make a decision. What I can say, and is also a way to show you the respect we are looking to this fixture, is that Gareth told us he would like to go, he would like to play, so, if tomorrow the feelings are positive, he will come.”

Erik Lamela may also return, but Giovani Lo Celso remains out and Jose underlined how seriously he is taking this tie against the team from Northern Premier League Division One North West by telling reporters at this afternoon’s press conference that only one Under-18 player will be in the squad travelling to Crosby, Merseyside.

He added: “With a starting 11, plus nine on the bench, we are speaking about 20 players, and I can tell you, in these 20 players, we are only going to take one Under-18 player, on the bench. Apart from that, we will have 19 players from the first team squad.”