Wigan Athletic midfielder Shaun Maloney says Tottenham star Gareth Bale is no diver.

Maloney has cleared Bale of diving in winning a penalty during Wales' 2-1 win in their World Cup qualifier on Friday night.

"The penalty decision swung the game in their favour and I feel awful about that," Maloney told the Daily Record. "I think there might have been a bit of contact, to be fair to Bale.

"It wasn't a challenge as such, he just ran across me and part of his legs touched mine. I don't think he dived. It was just a coming-together.

"I haven't seen it again but I have to be honest - my gut feeling was that he didn't dive. I'm pretty sure I didn't put a challenge in but I think there was some contact.

"It happened numerous times in the game. I tried to track back and help Danny Fox, as that was my job on the night. It's just unfortunate that this one time he got in front of me and when he ran across me he ended up winning the penalty.

"I can only apologise to my team-mates. It's just one of these things that can happen in a match. But it's devastating after the effort that everyone put in and it's something I'm going to regret for a very long time."