Wales coach Warren Gatland has confirmed Liam Williams is set for 10 weeks on the sidelines but remains hopeful the versatile back will be fit for the Rugby World Cup.

The 10-week timescale means Williams will miss the bulk of Wales' warm-up matches but he could be fit for their game against Ireland on August 29 or their match against Italy the following week. Williams required surgery on a troublesome metatarsal and will not go on their training camp in Switzerland.

"He'd been complaining about it a while," Gatland said. "It's a shame he's picked up that injury, so he's going to spend a bit of time with the Scarlets and we're going to condition him off his feet.

"We won't be calling anyone else up to the squad. I am optimistic he'll be ready."

He added: "If we pick up another couple of injuries then it's going to cause us a couple of problems. It's always been the challenge for us. We know how strong we can be when we have a fully fit squad.

"You always know that you're going to lose one or two players during a campaign, but it's always difficult to lose them before you start. It's a bit of a blow, but hopefully we're not going to be hampered by too many more."

While Gatland will be keeping his fingers crossed over Williams' fitness, there is better news regarding tight-head Samson Lee. He ruptured his Achilles tendon back in March and originally faced a race against time to be fit in time for the World Cup but Wales are hopeful of having him available for the match against Ireland on August 29.

"Samson Lee is good, he's making good progress," Gatland said. "He's walking around, doing a lot of conditioning.

"We're confident he's going to recover in time to be involved. We think he's got a chance of being involved in the second game away in Ireland."