Leigh Leopards ace suffers injury setback as Adrian Lam reveals thoughts on Hull KR’s Arthur Mourgue return plan

Leigh Leopards boss Adrian Lam has revealed that winger Keanan Brand has had a set back in his return from injury, and won’t feature this weekend.

Brand hasn’t played since the Challenge Cup win over Hull FC in March, and as a result has missed seven matches.

He was named in the club’s 21-man squad to take on Catalans Dragons a fortnight ago, but didn’t make the team that day and, by the looks of it, won’t be doing so for a little while yet.

The 27-year-old is nursing an ankle injury that hasn’t healed as it should have, and he has gone for scans to check for any further damage.

Confirming the news, Lam said: “There’s been some issues around some swelling after he’s trained with us right towards the end there, so some sort of complication. But we’ll get some scans from that today.

“He’s there now as we speak [Wednesday afternoon]. So there’s obviously something that’s not right within that that they’ve missed, the scan reports.

“So we’re going to make sure we tick that box and see what happens from there, because obviously at this point of his injury, there shouldn’t be any inflammation or fluid in the ankle, but that’s been happening.

“So something clearly not right there, but we’ll get to the bottom of that as soon as possible.”

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Innes Senior has been doing a fine job in his place, making over 100 metres in every game in that time and boasting a season total of five tries and an assist.

Lam has been left impressed with the Irish international’s efforts so far this season, saying:

I’ve always been a fan of Innes’ over the last four or five years and tried to get him here earlier on, but that didn’t work out.

“It’s good to have him here now. I think his ceiling, there’s so much left of improvement to him, but what he’s done for us this year in such a short time has been inspirational.

“I’m really excited about where that’s going to get to, especially on that left edge. The minute that Tesi’s 100% fit and we play four, five, six games together where there’s no changes, I think you’ll see him grow and take that next step.”

One man who is in contention for a return is Bailey Hodgson, who has been out even longer with a knee issue.

Last featuring against Wigan in round three, the former Newcastle Knights man will be given until kick-off to earn a place in the side, however with David Armstrong back fit it means that the club don’t have to rush him back into the side.

Leigh Leopards preparing for Hull KR full-back to return

This week’s opponents Hull KR have big selection decision themselves, as they decide whether to bring back Arthur Mougue or continue with Jack Broadbent at full-back.

Lam believes that both players will feature, rather than just one, and that is what he will be preparing for as they welcome the Robins to the Leigh Sports Village on Saturday.

“I think we’ve got to prep for both. I thought Broadbent played really well last week in the Challenge Cup semi-final.

“I presume they may start him and bring Mourgue off the bench to have both of them in the team there. There’s no Bachelor we’re hearing now.

“So, there may be one or two small changes in there. But I presume both of them will be in there.”