\n That is the view of head coach Sam Burgess, who has opted to give his star winger at least another fortnight\u2019s worth of load-building before sending him back onto the field.\n<\/p>\n
\n After his 2025 campaign was cut short by an ACL injury last May, Ashton has been targeting the Round One blockbuster against St Helens for his return but will now miss the game having been left out of The Wire\u2019s 21-man squad.\n<\/p>\n
\n When asked about the England international\u2019s condition at his pre-match press conference, Burgess insisted it was not a case of his recovery having been set back but more a case of assessing the situation in the round.\n<\/p>\n
\n With Warrington not having a game next week, Ashton is now expected to be back in contention for Wakefield Trinity\u2019s visit in Round Three on February 28.\n<\/p>\n
\n Matty Ashton has scored nine tries in his last seven appearances against St Helens – all of which have contributed to Warrington Wolves wins – but he will be missing from the Round One team on Friday (Image: Alex Whitehead\/SWpix.com)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe was actually really close,\u201d Burgess told the Warrington Guardian.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWith the fixtures and the week off next week, it was a \u201crisk-reward\u201d thing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe\u2019ll get an extra two weeks of recovery in and all the numbers and statistics will say that gives him a greater chance of staying fit so the longer we leave it, the better.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about just being smart there, not letting emotions dictate our decision-making and being balanced.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe all wanted Matty to play and we were very close, but we felt just another couple of weeks \u2013 and perhaps longer \u2013 would do him good.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere\u2019s been no problems and nothing untoward, but it was a bit of a gut feeling \u2013 if we played him and something would have gone wrong, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to live with myself.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe had third-party medical people come in about it and we\u2019ve made a calculated decision that I think is very intelligent on Matty\u2019s behalf.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Another player who will miss the game is new signing James Bentley, with Burgess confirming the second-rower will have further treatment on the back injury he suffered on his competitive debut for the club.\n<\/p>\n
\n Bentley suffered a back spasm in the first minute of Friday\u2019s Challenge Cup victory over Sheffield Eagles and his head coach admits he continues to struggle with the issue.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cJames is seeing a specialist today,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was a really awkward tackle and we can\u2019t be too careful, but he hasn\u2019t improved a great deal through the week so he had no chance of playing.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWhether he frees up in a couple of weeks will be a different story \u2013 the medical team are working hard on him but he\u2019s pretty sore.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of those niggly things that sometimes disappear overnight, but we\u2019re getting some extra advice and guidance on it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n James Bentley is treated having suffered a back spasm against Sheffield Eagles in the Challenge Cup (Image: Neil Ashurst\/P&B Pictures)\n<\/p>\n
\n There is better news in that Warrington will once again have the services of a quartet of senior players who have played little to no part in matches before the Super League campaign.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hooker Sam Powell has recovered from undergoing shoulder surgery while Burgess\u2019 middle unit will be boosted by the returns of Luke Yates (concussion) and James Harrison (calf) from injury as well as new arrival Toafofoa Sipley after the New Zealander completed an outstanding four-match suspension.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sipley picked up his ban while playing for Manly Sea Eagles in the NRL and missed their last game of 2025, both of Warrington\u2019s pre-season friendlies and the Challenge Cup third-round tie as a result.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cToff\u2019s ready to play \u2013 I think he\u2019s glad he\u2019s not just doing conditioning and extras anymore,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe\u2019s a great character, has a great deal of experience and knows how to get himself around the field.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see him out there at the weekend, which will be nice.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cSam\u2019s done well to get himself into a position to play, Jimmy\u2019s fully recovered and Yatesy is fine after getting a bang on the head from the week before.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Having been forced to sit out Warrington’s three matches so far this year through suspension, new signing Toafofoa Sipley will make his debut against St Helens (Image: Joe Richardson)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"That is the view of head coach Sam Burgess, who has opted to give his star winger at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-421141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}