Widnes co-captain Chris Houston is facing a two-game suspension following a collision that left referee Phil Bentham injured in Friday’s Betfred Super League defeat by Warrington.

Bentham was unable to continue after he was knocked to the ground by Houston as the forward chased a kick, with reserve referee Scott Mikalauskas placing the incident on report.

The experienced Australian back-rower has been given a two-match penalty notice by the Rugby Football League’s match review panel for grade C reckless physical contact with a match official.

Houston faced a similar charge last April after colliding with the same referee in the corresponding fixture.

On that occasion he was charged with a grade D offence but found not guilty.

Houston has until 11am on Tuesday to challenge the penalty, which was at the lower end of the range due to his clean disciplinary record in the last two years.