West Ham United midfielder Jack Collison has insisted that his international teammate Gareth Bale is as good as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The two Spain-based players are widely regarded to be the two best footballers in world football at this present moment in time.

However, ahead of West Ham's meeting with Bale's Tottenham Hotspur tonight, Collison believes that the Welsh winger has shown this season that he should be placed in the same bracket as that duo.

"I'd put him up their with Messi and Ronaldo — that's how highly I rate Gareth," Collison is quoted as saying by the London Evening Standard. "You know what you're up against with Gareth — pace, enthusiasm, energy.

"More recently for Spurs he's firing in the goals as well. He's going to be hard to stop, he always is, but we will have a game plan and we'll stick to that."

Bale has scored 17 goals in all competitions so far this season.