St Helens boss delivers four-fold injury boost news as key men return

St Helens boss Paul Wellens hopes to have as many as four players returning to full fitness over the coming weeks.

The Saints’ treatment room has been relatively full in recent weeks but it is beginning to clear out and the first man to return from injury could be Curtis Sironen. The back-rower has missed the last two after struggling with muscle spasms in his back but he has been included in the 21-man squad and Wellens has confirmed that all being well he should play.

As such, it seems as though the forward will come back into the starting line-up to take on Hull FC on Saturday at the MKM Stadium. And, Sironen’s return could be the first of a string of stars coming back with Mark Percival closing in on playing once more after undergoing surgery on a bone spur and Hull-bound duo Joe Batchelor and James Bell recovering well, too.

“Curtis is available, he’s trained full with the squad this week,” Wellens said. “He trained a bit with the squad last week but needed to do a bit more. He’s done that bit more and he’ll come into contention to play at the weekend.”

He added: “We’re hoping Mark Percival might be next week or the week after. Joe Batchelor just a short time after that. James Bell might be a few weeks away.

“In the next couple of weeks we could have two, three or four returning to full training and then getting a gauge of where they are physically in terms of making the squad again.”

St Helens entering pivotal month

It’s a big weekend in Super League as the current top four face off against each other with Leigh Leopards hosting Wigan Warriors and Leeds Rhinos heading to league leaders Hull KR. However, Saints enter the round knowing that should results go their way at Leigh Sports Village and Craven Park, they would gate crash the top three with a win over Hull, who remain in sixth despite losing two of their last three.

The Saints then take on Leeds and Leigh before July comes to an end, ensuring this month could well be a pivotal one for Wellens’ side who haven’t always fared well against those pushing at the top end of the division.

Wellens won’t be looking past the challenge of Hull on Saturday of course, but he is more than aware of how important the next few weeks could be.

“We sit second in the table right now and in the next few weeks we play sixth, third and fourth so it’s a really important few weeks playing the teams in and around us and that’s not lost on us,” he said.

“However, we don’t want to get too caught up in looking too far down the track as well. Hull is a place that we’ve been to a number of times and we know the difficult challenge that that presents so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Hull FC v St Helens team news as Black and Whites given big injury boost