Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale has refused to speculate on whether he is of similar ability to that of La Liga stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

The Wales international made the headlines following a stoppage-time strike against West Ham United in last night's 3-2 victory, which moved them ahead of Chelsea into third place in the Premier League table.

While some have deemed Bale to be in the same calibre as Ballon d'Or winners Ronaldo and Messi, the 23-year-old has insisted that he is purely focused on his own game.

"It's not for me to say," Bale told talkSPORT. "People can talk and say what they want.

"They have their own opinions. All I can do is keep trying my hardest and keep playing my best football and trying to do my best for the team.

"If newspapers want to talk and start saying things then that is entirely up to them. I can't control that, all I can do is play well on the pitch."

Bale has netted 12 goals in 13 games for the North London outfit.