Warrington Wolves full-back Cai Taylor-Wray will miss the next four to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
The 20-year-old picked up the injury during training earlier this week and will now miss at least the next month of action, including Saturday’s Challenge Cup fourth-round tie at Goole Vikings.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, boss Sam Burgess said the affected hamstring is not the one Taylor-Wray tore last year.
“I was planning on playing him [against Goole],” Burgess told Radio Merseyside.
“We were playing a few games [in training] on Tuesday and they were competing hard on a long-range break and as he dived to make the play he’s felt his hamstring.”
Taylor-Wray suffered the injury while chasing Matty Ashton, who himself is set to return from a long-term lay-off.
“Ironically he was actually chasing Matty down – the boys compete hard in training and it’s just one of those things,” Burgess added.
“He caught him, which he wanted me to let everyone know. It’s not as bad as it could have been so between four and six weeks is the early prognosis.”