New South Wales skipper Stuart Clark has played down any injury concerns over team-mate Michael Clarke, claiming the back injury that hampered the Australian vice-captain during the drawn Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria will not be an issue during the Ashes.

Clarke complained of stiffness following his first-innings century and did not field on the third day before resting up for most of the fourth day as the Blues battled to save the match.

But with NSW sliding towards outright defeat, he padded up at number eight and combined with Brad Haddin (61 not out) to thwart the Bushrangers with an undefeated 39.

Despite Clarke looking in pain at times and jogging rather than sprinting between wickets, his state captain is adamant the injury is not overly serious.

"His back's nowhere near as bad as people probably want to think," Clark said.

"He's probably sore from batting in the first innings. He batted for a long period after not getting many in India or batting that long.

"It's just stiffness from batting and being hunched over for long periods of time.

"He was always going to bat. It was just a matter of if we were two or three down it wouldn't have been required.

"It got to the stage where he needed to bat so he went out there and did it."

Clark expects the in-form right-hander to play in the Blues' Shield clash against Tasmania from Wednesday.

"The physio will assess Michael over the next couple of days but at this stage I will assume he is playing (next week)," he said.