Gareth Bale is doing all he can to play his way into our initial Fantasy lineups. Deployed at full-back in the friendly with Benfica last night, Bale once again provided a major threat down the Spurs left – running on to a smart Giovani flick to fire the winner for Harry Redknapp’s side in a 1-0 victory.

Earlier Bale had also combined effectively with Luka Modric to provide a whipped cross that Peter Crouch converted, only for the goal to be ruled out by the assistant’s flag. Redknapp may well keep the Welshman at left-back come the visit of Man City to the Lane on August 14 but that seems unlikely to curb Bale’s attacking zest. Priced at 6.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game, he continues to maintain his “must buy” status. In the Metro Game meanwhile it’s a real no-brainer with Bale classified as a defender.

Tottenham’s win against Benfica was impressive considering that the Portuguese side had so impressively swept Aston Villa aside by a 4-1 margin at the weekend. Redknapp would also have been pleased to see Jermaine Jenas return to his lineup following a recent injury, whilst back home Ledley King returned to action in a low-key friendly with Ipswich Town…

Stoke City’s Tuncay is another mid-price midfielder who has demonstrated strong summer form. He struck his fifth pre-season goal in a 2-1 win for Stoke at Bristol Rovers with Ricardo Fuller grabbing the winner. The win was overshadowed by an injury scare for Potters skipper Abdoulaye Faye who will likely undergo scans on a hamstring injury after limping off early last night.

Birmingham came from two goals down against MK Dons to run out 3-2 winners thanks to a brace from Cameron Jerome and another pre-season striker from Garry O’Connor. Alex McCleish started the game with new signing Nikola Zigic leading the attack as a lone striker with Craig Gardner charged with supporting from midfield. The Birmingham boss altered things to a 4-4-2 for the second-half with both Jerome and O’Connor introduced to some effect.

Finally West Ham’s run of victories came to an end with a 1-1 draw at Southend as they conceded their first goal in 471 minutes; Alessandro Diamanti registered for the Hammers – his first of the pre-season. Frederic Piquionne and Pablo Barrera made their first starts in the claret and blue. The latter was heavily involved on the night and it was the Mexican’s flick that provided the assist for Diamanti’s goal.

As usual you’ll find all the lineups from last night’s friendlies in our Pre-Season form guide.