Jose Mourinho has provided a hint over his possible Tottenham Hotspur team selection with the clash against Liverpool on the horizon.
The Reds take on Spurs in North London on Thursday night in the Premier League, and go into the game in a poor run of form.
Jurgen Klopp’s side lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup on Sunday, and now have just one win in their last seven matches.
Spurs are currently gearing up for their cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers on Monday evening, and will then be busy preparing for a return to league action against Liverpool.
The last meeting between the two clubs ended in dramatic fashion at Anfield, where a late header from Roberto Firmino secured all three points back in December.
Ahead of a busy week for Spurs, Mourinho says that star signing Gareth Bale could be in contention to return to the starting line-up in the coming games.
Mainly due to injury and illness, bale has been forced to sit on the sidelines for the majority of the campaign, featuring mostly in the Europa League but did make a cameo appearance in the 5-0 win over Marine a fortnight ago.
Mourinho says that provided Bale performs in training and is “ready to earn minutes”, then he could be in line to return to the team.
"I cannot give players minutes, minutes on the pitch is not something I can give, so I'm not going in this direction," said Mourinho.
He added: "We all know the difficulties he had for a couple seasons, we all know that he arrived injured, we all know that even this season (has been) a little bit up and down with small things.
"The most important thing for him is to be consistent, training without any problems and when a player is consistent in training, high intensity without any kind problems then the player is ready.
"Not to be given minutes, but is ready to earn minutes, and that for me is a difference.
"This week he is working every minute like everybody else at a good intensity and let's see the way that he reacts to the accumulation of that kind of work and let's see how he reacts by the end of the week.
"The match (against Wycombe) is Monday and we still have training sessions to evaluate that. It is also about his confidence. If he feels that the week that he's had has had a positive impact on him and, on his confidence, he will play."
