TONY Smith says Joe Westerman “did himself no favours” by playing with a niggling hip injury but hopes he can finish the season strongly.

The loose forward has not played for nearly two months after succumbing to the hip flexor problem, with his last game being the 24-16 win over Catalans Dragons on June 24.

All told, Westerman has missed 10 of The Wire’s 28 games in all competitions this season and Smith says he needs more time on the training field before he can play again.

The Wolves boss is positive about the 27-year-old’s chances of featuring in the game against London Broncos on September 2.

“Joe probably needs another week of training. He’s back in team training but hasn’t done a lot of running recently,” he said.

“He’s had a little bit to overcome, he played with injury for some time and it probably didn’t do him any favours in some respects.

“He's frustrated and itching to get back out there. It’s taken him some time to rehabilitate but he’s not far off.

“Hopefully he’ll finish the season as strong as he started it.”