LUCKLESS Worcester Warriors ace Will Butler faces an anxious wait to discover the extent of his latest injury setback.

Boss Alan Solomons said Butler had injured his upper ankle but was unable to “determine exactly what needs to be done” to fix the issue until the centre had visited the specialist on Friday.

Butler sustained the blow just 15 minutes into Saturday’s 36-28 defeat at Bath in the Premiership Cup.

It was the 21-year-old’s first outing since undergoing surgery in late April to repair a broken arm.

“Will is seeing a specialist on Friday,” Solomons said.

“It is a high ankle sprain. To what extent I will leave that at the moment.

“We will let the specialist have a look at him, determine exactly what needs to be done and give us the prognosis.

“Then we will be able to give you a more accurate assessment.”

Butler made just five appearances in an injury-hit 2018-19 campaign. He missed the start of the season due to an elbow problem before fracturing his arm playing for Worcester Cavaliers in the Premiership Shield.

“He is a really good young player,” Solomons said.

“This (injury) is most unfortunate, but these things happen. This is rugby.”

With Butler sidelined, Solomons will be hoping to have centre Francois Venter fit for the start of the Gallagher Premiership campaign.

A calf problem has ruled Venter out of the opening two Premiership Cup games.

But Solomons said the South Africa international was recovering well along with hooker Matt Moulds who is unlikely to play this month due to knee surgery.

“Francois is still out with a calf injury but is getting pretty close,” Solomons said.

“He is training really well.

"Matt is also recovering well but it was always going to be a six-week injury at least once they did the surgery."

Asked whether Venter would play before the Premiership kicks off on October 19, Solomons added: “We have got to see how he is tracking.

“At the moment he is going well but we have to be absolutely sure.

“If we risk him then we might set him back a couple of months.

“We have got to be sure that when he comes back, he stays fit.”