Outstanding Wales wing Shane Williams has only a "fifty-fifty" chance of being fit to play in Saturday's Six Nations clash against Engand here at the Millennium Stadium, according to Warren Gatland.
The Wales coach is fearful whether Williams, the country's record try-scorer with 45 in 62 Tests, will recover in time from an ankle injury he sustained during the grand slam champions' tournament opening 26-13 win away to Scotland last weekend.
Nevertheless, he included world player of the year Williams in the starting line-up he announced here Thursday.
But the New Zealander is preparing to bring in Scarlets wing Mark Jones from outside the 22 if Williams fails a fitness test on Friday.
"We have given Shane until tomorrow because he's a bit of a talisman for us," Gatland said Thursday. "I think he had 20-odd touches against Scotland last weekend, which for a wing is pretty exceptional.
"He is the biggest concern - he's probably fifty-fifty."
Wales also have a doubt over No 8 Andy Powell, who has a calf strain.
If Powell is ruled out, fit-again captain Ryan Jones - the only change announced so far by Gatland to the team that played Scotland - looks likely to move from blind-side flanker to No 8, with Dafydd Jones at blind-side, the position he played against Scotland.
"Andy is probably 90-10 in favour of being fit," said Gatland.
"It's just a tightness of the calf, and hopefully it will ease up for tomorrow's (Friday's) captain's run."
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
