Rob Page says Gareth Bale will need to be carefully managed in Wales' final two World Cup qualifiers after more than two months on the sidelines as the star man explained why he loves pulling on Wales jersey so much.
The Real Madrid attacker has not featured for club or country since Wales' 0-0 draw with Estonia in Cardiff on September 8 due to a hamstring injury.
However, he is set to earn his 100th cap for the Red Dragons when they host Belarus at Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday night.
And while Page revealed that Bale is ahead of schedule when it came to his recovery from injury, the Wales head coach admitted it was “unrealistic” that the 32-year-old would start both of the contests with Belarus and Belgium.
"It's not just myself who has made the decision, there's been a lot of dialogue going on with the medical team and Gareth himself," explained Page.
"He's 100% at this moment in time and he's more than happy to start the games, we'll just have to manage the minutes accordingly after that."
And on Bale's impending cap landmark, Page commented: "It's been a pleasure to work with him, and I'm proud to get to be a part of his journey.
"He's very humble, he's a prankster amongst the group, he's always joking, he wears the armband with pride and leads by example."
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Bale made his international bow against Trinidad & Tobago in May 2006 and has represented his country in two European Championships.
He is bidding to lead Wales into a World Cup for the first time since 1958 - with Page's side now just two wins away from playing in Qatar next year.
And when asked about his pride in representing the Red Dragons, Bale commented: "It’s my country, it’s my place of birth, it’s where I’ve grown up. You have that special connection.
"I think everyone does with their home country. Wales has that extra special thing – we have that connection with the fans. We were all fans growing up.
"We always loved to go to watch Wales and wanted them to do well. When a fan plays for your own national team you kind of bring that passion with you. It is hard to describe the feeling of playing for Wales.
"It is such a special country. It is such a special bond between the players, the staff, the fans, and even the media are a little bit nicer to us … it is just a special country to be a part of. I’m very proud and honoured to be a Welshman."
Wales are officially guaranteed a play-off place at the very least in their quest to reach next year's tournament in Qatar after Spain defeated Greece on Thursday night.
And while Page admits he's happy his side have the safety net of the March play-offs, the boss says Wales' sole focus is on claiming maximum points against Belarus and Belgium in a bid to give themselves a favourable semi-final tie.
"It takes the pressure off a little bit and it's great for the supporters to know that, in March, we've got a play-off," he added.
"We've got two games left, an opportunity to hopefully give ourselves a more favourable tie in the play-offs, so our full aim will be on that in this moment in time. We want to finish and build momentum and take that into the March.
"We can only control what we do. Our full focus will be on these next two games. We want maximum points out of them. We only need four to finish second and if we achieve that, then great, but we're going out for two wins.
"We're playing against a Belarus team who won't want to finish bottom of the group.
"If we're at it like we have been all week in training then we should get the result that we're after."
Kick-off against Belarus in Cardiff is at 7:45pm on Saturday.
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