Wales v Tonga: Scott Williams expects to be fit as Wales are hit by injured backs

Wales thumped Argentina at the weekend

Scott Williams injured his toe against Argentina but hopes to be fit to face Tonga (PA)

Scott Williams is determined to give Wales a badly needed injury boost after their midfield resources took another damaging hit during the record 40-6 victory over Argentina in Cardiff on Saturday.

Even though centre left the Millennium Stadium with his right foot encased in a protective boot, he is optimistic of making a quick recovery from toe ligament trouble. That will be music to Wales coach Warren Gatland’s ears after he saw Test debutant Cory Allen suffer a suspected dislocated shoulder, to join Jonathan Davies (ruptured pectoral muscle) and Jamie Roberts (ankle) on the sidelines.

With Allen’s Blues midfield colleague Owen Williams not due back in training until this week, Ashley Beck is effectively Wales’ only fully fit centre, although the versatile James Hook could be an option. The Six Nations champions have little time to regroup, with their next fixture, against Tonga at the Millennium Stadium, just four days away.

“Someone landed on the back of my leg and it twisted, and my big toe just stretched. But it was nothing to come off for,” said Williams, who along with No 8 Toby Faletau was Wales’s outstanding player.

“It [the protective boot] is precautionary more than anything, and it is just to stop my big toe bending over in the next couple of days.

“I will be strapped to the ice machine over the next 24 hours and see how it is. Hopefully, I will be back in training on Monday or Tuesday.”

Allen became the fourth back among Wales’s original 35-man squad for the autumn to suffer a series-ending injury, after Davies, Eli Walker and Rhys Patchell pulled out. Roberts and Alex Cuthbert have been sidelined since last month, while Tom Prydie has a hamstring problem.

Gatland is due to announce his team to face Tonga tomorrow, with a number of changes likely to include an international debut for the 19-year-old Newport Gwent Dragons back Hallam Amos.