Midfielder Charlie Adam has again injured Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale, who has called Adam a "coward" and claimed that the Liverpool midfielder deliberately set out to hurt him during Saturday's friendly game in Baltimore.

“From what I’ve seen of him on pitch, I think he’s a bit of a coward," said Bale. "He’s done it before. He's obviously come for me twice now – and he’s got me twice. ... I would have understood if it had it been a slightly mistimed tackle, even though it was just a friendly. But the ball was 10 yards past him already and was nowhere near him when he came through my ankle.”

In May 2011, while playing for Blackpool, Adam's horrific tackle left Bale with ruptured ankle ligaments that sidelined the Welshman for three months.

“There are pictures on the Internet of what he did before when he snapped all my ankle ligaments," Bale said. "I was out for three months that time and one player told me he went out to do the same thing to me again. I was surprised to see a challenge like that in a friendly. We’re all over here to build our fitness and get a good workout and what he did was over the top, to be honest. But some people are like that and it’s just wrong.”