Euroscout: Gareth Bale

After breaking into the Wales team at the age of just 17, Bale began to attract interest from a number of Premiership clubs, and sparked a January transfer bidding war between Premiership giants Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, so eurosport.com took a closer look at the youngster in Southampton's Championship clash with high-flying Preston North End.

The Saints' trip to Deepdale was always likely to prove a tricky one, and so it proved, as they went down 3-1 to strikes from Neil Mellor and David Nugent, and an own-goal from Chris Baird.

Bale occupied the left back spot, behind Zimbabwean Andrew Surman, though showed himself willing to get forward at every opportunity, and put his prodigious left foot to good use.

Surman generally sat back whenever the young Welshman overlapped, though a slight lack of understanding between the pair was evident, with Southampton often caught on the break, and Bale stranded upfield.

Bale registered the first shot of the evening as early as the second minute, suprising his marker by cutting inside, though shot tamely wide with his weaker right foot.

His attacking zeal was almost punished on 19 minutes though, as Nugent ran into the space vacated by one of Bale's charges upfield, and crossed for Danny Pugh, who powered his header inches over the crossbar.

All eyes shifted to the left back just after the half-hour mark when Southampton won a free-kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the area, though this time he disappointed, shooting well wide of the left hand post.

Though not blessed with searing pace, Bale is undeniably quick off the mark, and relies on a shimmy and burst of acceleration to go past opponents rather than pure speed, and he was involved in an excellent move by the Saints on 43 minutes, charging down the left, before feeding Jermaine Wright, who then laid it on for Surman to warm the hands of Preston &lsquokeeper Andy Lonergan with a fine half-volley from outside the box.

Bale grew frustrated throughout the second half as he was well marshalled by the Preston midfield, and crashed the ball into the advertising hoardings in anger after he miscontrolled, no doubt striking fear into the hearts of a pair of elderly supporters sitting in the first row.

Bale was then absent for Preston's second goal, the key moment of the match. The home side broke at speed from their own area, with Patrick Agyemang feeding Nugent, who finished coolly, while Bale was left unable to make back the ground, and appealed in vain for offside on the final pass.

Undeterred, he continued to drive forward, and delivered a number of genuinely pacy, testing crosses into the Preston box, though the home defence were the clear victors in the aerial battle, and their strikers' sharpness turned out to be the difference between the two sides on the night.

While Bale undoubtedly has huge potential to go on and establish himself at one of the Premiership's top clubs, he will need to be careful not to be caught out venturing forward and then being caught out of position,

Though it is a tricky balance to find, not least because any manager would be keen to put his outstanding ball-striking ability to use as often as possible in attack, it is one he must master, and one he will no doubt improve upon as he gains experience.