Lewis Murphy is edging towards making a return to action, St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has confirmed.
Murphy, who joined the club over the off-season after a brief spell with Sydney Roosters, has been missing since the opening round of the Super League season due to injury. The winger scored in the one-sided clash against Salford Red Devils but left the action in the second half of the contest with a hamstring complaint.
Scans revealed a tear in the muscle, ruling the winger out for eight to 10 weeks. However, he is now on the verge of full fitness with a reserves clash lined up for the winger to make his return before stepping back into the first-team fray.
“Lewis is getting close to being back in full training with the squad,” Wellens said in the build up to the Saints‘ clash with Warrington Wolves this Sunday. “He took a small part in our session that we had today (Thursday) which was great to see.
“He’s making real rapid strides there so we hope he can continue on that trajectory and get back playing pretty soon. There’s a reserves game in a couple of weeks that we’ve earmarked for him to play in and get some game time. Hopefully he’ll be on track for that.”
The return of Murphy will be appreciated by Wellens, who is short of options in the outside backs. Kyle Feldt has a hand injury and won’t feature for another two months at least, while Konrad Hurrell has been ruled out, too. To make matters worse, Harry Robertson won’t play this weekend for St Helens after picking up a head knock against Catalans Dragons last time out.
As such, Wellens admits he has a tough call to make on the edges as he attempts to replace Robertson for the clash at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
“We’ve got some decisions to make there. Ben Davies was in the squad last week and he’s a natural centre,” he added. “During the course of the game (at Catalans) when we lost Harry, Matt Whitley went there and I thought he did an excellent job.
“We’ve got some bits to consider when finalising the team. Despite being down on numbers in the outside backs, we still had options and that shows we have real depth to the squad.”
