GARETH Bale has been backed to overtake Wales legend Ian Rush as the nation’s record goalscorer.

Bale has scored ten goals in his last 11 internationals after his double strike in Andorra last month and now has 14 from 45 appearances - exactly half of Rush's 28 goals.

And national manager Chris Coleman says the 25-year-old is on course to overtake Rush in the coming years.

"Yes, he can definitely do that (beat Rush's record)," Coleman said at his press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegivina.

"He plays enough games for us, he's young enough and going on what he's already done, he's going to play enough games to surpass that.

"He's one of the best players in the world and he can create a goal or score a goal out of nothing.

"But it's not only what he gives to your own unit, it's what he does to the opposition.

"Psychologically, it's a big boost for us when he's walking out on that pitch."

Coleman also predicted Bale could be among a clutch of current stars capable of surpassing Neville Southall’s cap record.

The goalkeeping great is Wales’ leading appearance maker after 92 outings in a 15-year career.

But Coleman revealed he has told several young stars including Bale, Joe Ledley and Newport’s Chris Gunter to smash the 100-cap barrier to highlight their determination to step-up for their country.

“Other countries have lots of players who have gone past the 100-game barrier, so we need to begin doing it with Wales,” said Coleman.

“We’ve got more than one player who can break the record for the number of caps.

“Chris Gunter has got over 50 caps. Nobody talks about Chris but 50-odd caps at his age is an unbelievable return.

“We all talk about Baley and Rambo and Joe Allen but we’ve got a lot of young players who can go on and win over 100 caps.

“We’ve got a lot of players who are young enough and dedicated enough to surpass that record.”