Bale suffers new injury setback as Mourinho confirms Tottenham loan star will be out for 'a few weeks'

Gareth Bale has suffered a new injury setback, with Jose Mourinho confirming the Tottenham loan star will be out of action for "a few weeks".

Bale was forced to come off at half-time after scoring the opener in Tottenham's 3-1 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Stoke City on December 23.

Mourinho revealed post-match that the winger had sustained a calf injury, and subsequently left him out of his squad for the Premier League meeting with Wolves on Sunday, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Bale struggles for fitness have been well documented since his return to Spurs from Real Madrid on a season-long loan in September, with the 33-year-old only managing to score three goals during 11 appearances in all competitions, the majority of which have come from the substitutes bench.

Mourinho will not be including the Welshman in his matchday squad against Fulham on Wednesday, and the Portuguese does not expect him to be back on the pitch until well into the new year.

Asked for an update on Bale's recovery, the Tottenham head coach told a pre-match press conference: "No, I don't expect Gareth to be fit. I wouldn't say it's a serious injury, but I would say a few weeks."

Mourinho also confirmed that Lucas Moura and Carlos Vinicius are doubts for the clash with the Cottagers, but Tanguy Ndombele looks set to retain a spot in the 57-year-old's line-up.

Spurs' £54 million ($73m) record signing has established himself as a regular in the team after a slow start to life in north London, and his manager is pleased with the progress he has made over the last few months.

"We are happy, apart from a couple of matches where his performances were not good, overall there was a big evolution," said Mourinho.

"I believe, to play at this intensity - Premier League intensity - and to last for 90 minutes is of course another step in the direction of his fitness, but he's a player of course who is playing very well and is giving some good things to the team."

The Tottenham boss added on the challenge Fulham will pose his team in the midweek London derby: "Fulham now play a different way, they forgot some of the principles that they believed in. They have new principles of play and they are getting very positive results. It's going to be difficult."