Tuesday 29 July 2014 12:35, UK
Widnes vice-captain Kevin Brown has been cleared to play in the Vikings' Tetley's Challenge Cup semi-final against Castleford Tigers on August 10.
The 29-year-old stand-off was taken off with a whiplash injury during his side's 44-22 Super League defeat at St Helens on Friday, casting doubt over his availability for the showdown with the Tigers at Leigh Sports Village.
However, Brown, who has been in impressive form this year and is seen as crucial to Widnes' bid to reach their first Wembley final for 21 years, has been cleared of any major damage and could even play against Hull KR on Sunday.
It was just the initial shock of the hit and he couldn't shake it off. We brought him off to assess him and I didn't see the point of bringing him back on.
Vikings coach Denis Betts said: "It was just the initial shock of the hit and he couldn't shake it off. We brought him off to assess him and I didn't see the point of bringing him back on."
Betts remains critical of the challenge on Brown by St Helens forward Sia Soliola, who avoided punishment.
"I was hoping that Soliola would get a warning because of all the things about head injury issues," he said.
"When you watch it and you see the whiplash it causes to Kevin, that's what causes the most damage to the neck and around the shoulder.
"Kev was relaxed, he'd passed the ball and the ball is well away from him. Soliola is a tough, hard player but he just shoves him in the back when he isn't expecting it. It's foul play. You can't do that to somebody without the ball."
Widnes centre Cameron Phelps is, however, likely to miss the rest of the season with a collar-bone injury sustained last Friday.
