St Helens injury latest as Paul Wellens gives Daryl Clark and Joe Batchelor updates

Paul Wellens is hopeful that Daryl Clark to be fit enough to play for St Helens this week at Catalans Dragons. The Saints travel to the south of France on the back of successive Super League defeats, with last week’s 14-12 loss to Warrington Wolves leaving a particularly sour taste.

As such, they will be determined to bounce back on Saturday when they face Catalans in Perpignan, where the club have won just one game since 2018. The fitness of Clark would undoubtedly come as a huge boost then, with the hooker pushing to shake off a hip injury.

Clark picked up the issue last time out with Wellens having to look to Moses Mbye in the first half of the contest at the Totally Wicked Stadium. Mbye is a more than able deputy for this weekend’s clash, of course, but the hope is that Clark will travel and play against Steve McNamara’s side.

“We’ve got a session tomorrow,” Wellens said in his pre-match press conference. “We slightly altered our schedule this week so we’ve not trained today, we’ll train tomorrow. Daryl Clark will be a part of that session so should he move well, we’re planning that he’s going to be in the south of France on Saturday.

“Moses did a really good job when he came onto the field but Daryl is obviously a hugely important player for us as well. We’re hoping that he can train tomorrow morning and come through that session with no real issues. If he does that he’ll be in the 17.”

Wellens also expects to be boosted by the return of Joe Batchelor, who missed St Helens’ clash with Warrington after picking up a head knock in the Challenge Cup win over Leeds Rhinos.

“Joe Batchelor is back in contention,” he added. “He’s gone through all his HIA protocols and he’s feeling great. He trained with us yesterday and he’ll train tomorrow. There being no issues he will play at the wekeend.”