Coleman said "We had a conversation with Gareth before the game, he had a tight groin from the day before and we could not take that chance. As we speak he has gone to have another scan on it to clear his mind so he knows everything is alright."
Gareth Bale will not start Wales' World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Tuesday amid fitness concerns, manager Chris Coleman has said.
Bale, who recently became the world's most expensive player when he moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for £85.3m, was an unused substitute in Friday's 2-1 defeat in Macedonia.
Captain Ashley Williams is suspended for the game at Cardiff City Stadium.
And injured midfielder Jonathan Williams, 19, also misses out.
Bale's lack of match fitness after a summer of limited training was exacerbated by a groin strain he suffered ahead of Friday's defeat.
He underwent a scan on Monday and later took a full part in training.
Coleman had earlier said Bale's presence on the bench was intended to play on Macedonia's minds.
"We had a conversation with Gareth before the [Macedonia] game," said Coleman.
"He had a tight groin from the day before and we could not take that chance.
The coach revealed the winger suffered the new injury during last Thursday’s training session, before the Macedonia game.
"He was never going to be available to start either of these games but at best he would have come on for maybe half an hour. There is a small chance of that happening against Serbia. We will see when we get the scan results back and how he feels," said the coach.
