St Helens injury update as spine dealt double blow and options revealed

St Helens head coach Paul Wellens has discussed the options in place after confirming a double injury blow to the team’s spine.

The Saints boss was speaking at his weekly presser, previewing Friday night’s game against Wakefield Trinity with Wellens’ media duties coming in the aftermath of St Helens naming just a 20-man squad.

Having immediately knocked back reports linking the club to Salford Red Devils man Deon Cross and confirming that it’s unlikely a 21st man will be added to the squad, either from within or by way of a signing, Wellens spoke on the general fitness of his side.

“It’s pretty much where we’re at, squad health-wise, at this moment in time,” he confirmed.

“It’s a strong squad nonetheless, we’re really happy with the 20-man squad that we’ve named and we’re looking forward to the game at the weekend. It is a short turnaround for us but I think it’s exactly what we need.”

Saints were knocked out of the Challenge Cup on Sunday afternoon in a game that saw them lose Mark Percival and Jake Wingfield to HIAs, with Wellens confirming the duo are okay but obviously unable to feature this week.

St Helens injury update as spine dealt double blow

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Paul Wellens has named a 20-man Saints squad for this Friday’s home @SuperLeague clash against @WTrinityRL

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Another man who picked up an injury in that game which rules him out on Friday is Daryl Clark with the England international not named in the 20-man squad, something that will force a reshuffle.

On Clark, Wellens explained: “He’s picked up a knock. When scoring the try, he picked up a whack as he was going over there. He’s obviously uncomfortable at the moment and this week’s definitely going to come too soon for him.”

Looking beyond that, he added: “We’ll see how he recovers in the next 7-10 days and see whether it has an impact on his ability to play on Good Friday but we don’t know much more than that, it’s a game at the time.”

Another key spine player who may miss out against Wakefield is club captain Jonny Lomax with the St Helens boss confirming that he sustained an ankle injury that is “quite swollen at this moment in time”.

Wellens explained: “What Jonny is, probably more so than any other player in the competition, he’s very professional and he’ll do all he can in terms of his recovery to try and put himself in a strong position physically to be able to play on the weekend.”

Despite that, he added: “At the same time, we won’t put any too high of demands on that and assess him in the next 24 to 48 hours and make a decision.”

How could Saints plug the gaps against Wakefield Trinity

That could mean changes in the halves as well as at hooker with St Helens having one man adept at covering both in Moses Mbye, however, should Lomax miss out then the former Queensland man can only play one of the two roles.

Speaking on St Helens’ options, Wellens explained: “We’ve got George Whitby there on standby, we’ve got obviously Moses Mbye who’s played that position before and we’ve brought Jake Burns into the squad which gives us an option as well.”

Whilst the confirmed injuries to Percival, Wingfield and Clark, and concerns over Lomax, are major blows, there was positive news in that Harry Robertson (HIA) returns with Lewis Murphy also named in the squad for the first time since Round One.

On the speedy winger, Wellens said: “He’s trained really well. We’ve had a shortened week, we’ve only done a really a really light session this morning, which Murph has taken part in, and we have another session – our captain’s run in the morning. Providing that he is feeling good and comes through that, he’ll be in contention on the weekend.”

Having admitted that the club aren’t in a position to “magic in wingers or outside backs”, Wellens did provide an update on two of those who have been out for a while.

“Some are closer than others,” he confirmed, noting: “Konrad Hurrell and Owen Dagnall are only a couple of weeks away in terms of outside back options. They’re close but obviously still not quite there.”

He also conceded that the club could consider Moses Mbye in that position if he weren’t required elsewhere, as Wellens noted:

“I know it’s somewhere that he played for Queensland actually when he played State of Origin so I suppose the way things are in the outside backs at the moment, we can’t rule anything out can we?

“But we do see Moses more as a 9-slash-half. I think he’s always helped us a great deal when we play him there.”