Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho said on Friday that Gareth Bale’s upbeat midweek Instagram post was a “contradiction” with reality, insisting that the Wales international had reported fitness concerns. Bale, on loan from Real Madrid, missed Wednesday’s 5-4 FA Cup defeat at Everton after he was absent from training on Monday, and asked for a scan following some discomfort. The 31-year-old, who has struggled to make an impact since his return to Spurs, was an unused substitute in Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Brom.

Despite not being available for the trip to Goodison Park, a social media update from the Welshman a day earlier stated: “Good session today.”

Mourinho was quizzed on Bale’s availability ahead of Saturday’s match against Premier League leaders Manchester City.

“It was a contradiction between the post and the reality,” the Portuguese said at his pre-match press conference.

“Since the beginning of the season in relationship to everything, I try to be very private and try to keep everything indoors, but I felt I needed to address the situation.”

“Probably the post was not even his responsibility, I don’t know. But the post was showing ‘training session great and I am ready’ and was totally wrong.”

Mourinho said Bale had reported “not feeling good” and had asked for a scan.

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“He had a scan, the scan didn’t show an injury but his feelings were still there and coaches, sports science and medical people, we can never go against feelings, because the player’s feelings are much more important than all of us,” said the Spurs boss.

“So he was not ready for the game. It is as simple as that. If he is ready for tomorrow, he is selected for tomorrow.”