SAM Burgess admitted George Williams “stirred up” his ankle injury during Warrington Wolves’ victory at Hull KR on Thursday evening.

The England captain returned earlier than expected to skipper The Wire to a narrow victory at Craven Park, opening the scoring early on in the process.

It was anticipated he would miss at least another week of action and Burgess said the call to risk him was a late one, with his regular half-back partner Josh Drinkwater having been ruled out with a thigh injury.

On a heavy pitch in east Hull, Williams was moving gingerly at times but the Wire boss believes it was worth the risk to have him on the field.

When asked when it became clear the stand-off may have been able to play, Burgess said: “About two hours before kick off.

“It was a late call as we’re pretty thin on numbers at the minute.

“George is a tough guy and isn’t your typical half-back, but he stirred his ankle up again tonight.

“He may have paid a price but I think it was worth it.”

Williams’ return was timely given Drinkwater’s succumbing to an issue that had plagued him in the build-up to last week’s win over Castleford Tigers.

Now, he looks set for several weeks on the sidelines.

“He’ll probably be around four weeks,” Burgess said of the scrum-half.

“It’s a soft tissue injury so you have to be careful with those, otherwise you’ll aggravate it.

“If he recovers well, he may be back in three.”

Williams’ chances of being fit to take the field when Warrington travel to London Broncos in Round Five will be helped by the lengthy turnaround they now have between fixtures.

And after a tough start to the season on some heavy fields, Burgess says his players have earned their recovery time.

“We’ve got a 10-day turnaround now and the guys need a break,” he said.

“We’ve had a good four-week block, so we’ll have a couple of days off to recover and then get ready for London.

“They’ve earned their break and there’s a good atmosphere at the break, but it’s a good time for a rest.”