MATTY Ashton was taken off as a precautionary measure during Warrington Wolves’ victory at Hull FC, head coach Sam Burgess said.

The winger was withdrawn during the second half after The Wire had taken an 18-6 lead through Danny Walker’s try, with Toby King moving over to the left flank.

However, the hosts then fought back to level the scores at 18-18 only for Matt Dufty to score a late winner to snatch victory for the visitors.

Burgess confirmed it was a lower back issue that forced Ashton off and that he will be monitored in the coming days, with the speedster eyeing a place in the England squad for the mid-season Test against France next weekend.

“He’s got something wrong with his lower back,” the Wire head coach said.

“That was also soft-tissue related so we didn’t want to risk it.

“We felt we were in a decent position when we took him off, but it didn’t end up that way.”

Half-back George Williams came back into the Warrington team after missing last week’s defeat to Salford Red Devils with a calf injury.

Burgess had said during the week that playing the England captain in Round 15 would be a risk, but he led the side and set up Dufty’s first try with an outrageous flicked pass.

As the days passed by before the game, however, Burgess said the level of risk involved with fielding Williams decreased.

“I wouldn’t have played him if he wasn’t 100 per cent as it’s a soft tissue injury and they’re always a risk,” he said.

“He pulled up quite well after training on Wednesday and he got through yesterday, so we felt we could play him.”