Mark Applegarth explains star’s absence but confirms key man will return

Two sides face off on Friday evening both off the back of a loss as Wakefield Trinity travel to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Warriors.

Trinity fell short to Catalans on Friday evening as their former winger Tom Johnstone punished them with a hattrick in a 38-24 defeat.

Wigan played in the televised Channel 4 fixture and lost in front of a packed-out Craven Park and were also on the end of a hattrick, with Rovers skipper Shaun Kenny-Dowall solidifying the 27-18 win as he crossed over for a third time in the 75th minute.

The two youngest coaches in the competition now face off and it’s Wigan who are the overwhelming favourites and they’ve named a near full-strength squad to try earn them their first win.

Peet has named the same squad as he did for round one but will be hoping for a different outcome.

French and Field will look to combine as they did in this fixture last year during which they both bagged a brace as Wigan secured a 54-10 victory.

📋 𝙎𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨

Matt Peet has today confirmed his 21-man squad for Friday's @SuperLeague home opener against @WTrinityRL.

Read more 👉https://t.co/IS2gNy7vcr

🎟 Join us back at the DW Stadium! Get your tickets here ➡ https://t.co/MZLvisYW9L#WWRL pic.twitter.com/A0geECl7Ev

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 22, 2023

As for Wakefield they see Reece Lyne left out but all four new signings feature in their squad.

Langi, Proctor, Atoni and Smith are all named but it was Mason Lino who shone for them last week and they’ll need him again if they’re to overcome the odds and the might of Wigan.

Your squad for Round 2 against Wigan Warriors. 📋

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— Wakefield Trinity (@WTrinityRL) February 22, 2023

Mark Applegarth has now all but confirmed that Kelepi Tanginoa will feature after missing the defeat to Catalans through a hamstring injury.

“Kelepi is back, he is a big boost for us. Looking forward to having him back in action.

“As I said after the game, I thought for the majority of the game we weren’t far off. It was just a cluster of five or six errors.

“I will pick the team best for the occasion.

“Reece Lyne has a bit of a medical issues, which is a forced change.”