Wakefield Trinity remain unclear on the prognosis for star winger Oli Pratt but head coach Daryl Powell has confirmed that he expects to be without the outside back for another seven weeks.
Pratt is one of four outside backs currently sidelined and there remain concerns about full-back Josh Rourke, who has been named in the squad despite picking up a knock late on in the loss to Wigan Warriors.
After that game, Powell had confirmed that both Corey Hall and Oli Pratt would miss out for a few weeks and offering a fresh update ahead of Friday’s game against Hull FC, the same news rings true with no prognosis confirmed yet for Pratt.
“No, not really. Just timescale-wise, he’s going to be seven weeks from here, I would say,” Powell confirmed.
“He’ll get re-examined at six weeks. He’s had an injection in the area, which should speed up recovery, hopefully. He’s going to be out for a fair while.
“It’s the same with Corey, really. A similar sort of timescale, maybe a little bit less for Corey but that’s not exact at the moment.”
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Wakefield Trinity boss assesses outside back options
Whilst that pair missed out last week against Wigan, it means Jayden Myers got an opportunity but he too succumbed to injury that’s ruled him out for Friday’s game but his timeline for recovery remains unclear.
“He’ll be out for a few weeks. It’s not 100 per cent certain of timescales,” Powell announced.
“He’s got a shoulder injury, so we’ll see how he goes. He’s not too long, I don’t think.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure yet, as we speak. Obviously, he’s out this week, so he’ll be all right. He’s young and these guys recover pretty quickly.”
As well as that trio, Lachlan Walmsley still remains out with Powell confirming that the Australian underwent knee surgery and is still potentially a month away from playing.
That likely spells second-rowers playing in the backs on Friday as Powell assessed his outside back crisis.
He confirmed: “We’ve got a few missing in the outside-backs. We’ve been playing back-rowers in the centre. There’s a few teams around that have had to do that this year. It happens that way.
“It’s a tough position to play, but Seth (Nikotemo) did okay last week. Pittsy (Jay Pitts) did a decent job against Hull KR, so we’ll just deal with it again this week.”
One youngster who could seize an opportunity is Kian McGann, signed as a spine player but capable of playing in the centres with the former St Helens academy product called up to the 21-man squad this week.
On whether he could play, Powell said: “It’s a genuine chance, really. He’s been going really well in training, he’s played well. He’s played full-back for Halifax, so he’s had some good experiences. He’s been playing well for reserves, so he’s doing a good job.
“He’s one of those players you’d be excited to see out there on the field. Whether that happens or not, there’s a couple of different things as we work through, today in particular into tomorrow.
