Leigh Leopards have been handed a huge boost with head coach Adrian Lam confirming that forward Owen Trout has returned to training and could even be in contention to feature against Toulouse Olympique this weekend.
The Leopards travel to France on Friday ahead of Saturday evening’s game that is set to be played in sweltering heat, however, the 21-man squad will not be confirmed until Thursday.
Leigh fans will be eagerly waiting to see if Trout, who represented England at last year’s Ashes, is named in the squad after what has been a lengthy spell away.
Trout last played in the round 11 home defeat to Hull KR back on May 16th but he’s not featured since and hasn’t been named in the 21-man squad since round 12, with Adrian Lam citing personal reasons when asked about the star’s omission.
Speaking to media today, he confirmed that Trout is back in training and a chance of featuring this weekend.
“I think Owen Trout has been training with us today so he’ll come into consideration as well,” Lam confirmed, before revealing that Trout’s conditioning remained strong.
“That’s been ongoing for him. He certainly hasn’t dropped off there. Whether we make that decision for him to play this week or next week, that’ll be probably my call along with a conversation with S&C and medical but I think he’ll certainly add something to our team.”
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Leigh Leopards boss confirms Lachlan Lam return
Trout returning would be a massive boost for the Leopards but if he returns then he won’t be the only big boost as Lam confirmed that both Lachlan Lam and Josh Charnley look set to return after missing out against Hull KR with lacerations to their lower legs.
“They’ll both be in consideration this week, so it’s nice to know that,” the Leigh boss confirmed.
“They could have played in a pinch last week, but just the spot that it was on, it’s just too dangerous. It would have just opened up and it would have just been a month of continuous pain and uncertainty. We got through that now and we’re good to go.”
Lam also explained that he was ‘grateful’ that both centres Umyla Hanley and Tesi Niu came through unscathed after their return to the fray, however, he explained that his side still wasn’t at full strength yet with up to nine players missing out.
He said: “When I’m talking about our strongest side, we still don’t have Jack Hughes there with him being on suspension.
“You’ve got the likes of Andy Badrock, that’s played some minutes with us, that’s not too far away now. AJ Towse and Keenan Brown, all those boys are still out.
“They’re going to find it very hard to get back in, especially if we can build some rhythm and some momentum and another block of wins along the way.”
