Gareth Bale insists Wales can still qualify for the 2018 World Cup despite another damaging home draw in Cardiff.

The Real Madrid star gave his side a first-half lead against Group D rivals Serbia.

But just seconds after Bale hit the post with five minutes left their rivals levelled through Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Chris Coleman’s men are now third but four points behind the Republic of Ireland – who won in Austria – who they face in Dublin on March 24.

But Bale roared: ”We have to keep fighting.

“We believe we can still do it. We need to keep working hard, keep doing the things we do and we will get a bit of luck at some point.

“We have to look at it as two points dropped.

“We were at home, we felt confident going into the game, we were 1-0 up to the 85th minute.

“We are just disappointed. I thought we did great in the first half.

“In the second half we did not play as well, but we dug in and we showed our heart, but it was disappointing to concede at the end.”

Wales are still unbeaten in the campaign, but with just one team certain to qualify for Russia the clash with the Republic in March is looking a must win game.

Coleman said: ”We know it’s going to be tough but we’re well capable of going there and getting a result.

“We know that, we’ve proven that in the past.

“We’re going to go into a fantastic atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium and Ireland are playing on the front foot, playing with confidence – they deserve to be top.

“It’s the best game. We couldn’t have picked a better one. It’s going to be a fantastic challenge for us and we look forward to that.”