Ashes 2017: Steve Smith says David Warner 'confident' of playing at Gabba despite neck injury

Australia captain Steve Smith says opener David Warner is “very confident” that will be able to play in Thursday’s opener of the Ashes series despite sustaining a neck injury in training. [caption id=“attachment_4222069” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Australian opener David Warner suffered an injury scare ahead of the first Test against England. AP[/caption] Warner recovered from a stiff neck to bat in the nets on Wednesday during Australia’s final session before the first Test against England. He twinged his neck while taking a high catch at the Gabba on Tuesday and was in obvious discomfort later. He’s very confident and he says he’ll be right to go," Smith told reporters ahead of Thursday’s Ashes opener at the Gabba. “He’ll be OK. It’s part and parcel of playing cricket. Guys have injuries every now and then and have little niggles. “He’s improved a fair bit over the last 24 hours and hopefully he can keep improving and be 100 percent at match time.” Smith quipped: “He said he’ll even bat like (West Indian) Shivnarine Chanderpaul (side-on batting stance), if he has to.” Smith said selectors had been discussing a replacement option to be on standby, but he was confident the player would not be required. “There’s a good chance someone will be in as cover but I’m not sure who at this stage… they’re thinking about it at the moment,” he said. Cricket Australia later announced that batsman Glenn Maxwell has been called in to the squad as injury cover in case Warner was not able to play. With inputs from agencies