Friday night sees a key battle in the race for the League Leaders Shield but perhaps just as importantly, the right to host a playoff semi-final, with St Helens welcoming Leigh Leopards to the Totally Wicked Stadium in a battle of third versus fourth.

A win for Leigh puts them right back in the mix whereas a loss would almost certainly consign them to fourth, a very strong showing on their return to Super League and the club’s highest ever finish.

As for Saints they’re on a six game winning streak and getting hot at the right time of the season as they look for a fifth straight Grand Final win, however they’ve been doing it tough with injury.

Once again they face plenty of injury problems whilst also having Konrad Hurrell suspended for a late shot on the passer, albeit the centre would likely miss out anyway due to a calf strain.

Among the other absentees are the long term injuries of Alex Walmsley and Agnatius Paasi, both of whom picked up serious injuries in the previous meeting between Leigh and Saints.

Walmsley suffered a ruptured ACL whilst Paasi suffered both an MCL and ACL injury, leaving the props out for three months and nine months respectively.

Matty Lees returned last week but fellow forwards Dan Norman (HIA) and Morgan Knowles (knock) will likely miss out with Knowles undergoing a scan yesterday to determine his fitness.

As for the Leopards and they’ve been relatively injury free all season which has been a major factor in their form, the only current long term injury being centre Ricky Leutele with a spinal issue.

Josh Charnley overcame a knock to score a brace in last week’s match against Huddersfield whilst Zak Hardaker brought up game 350, a game that was amazingly played on both Friday and Sunday following floodlight failure.

The Leopards did win that match to keep their hopes of a top two spot alive but they’ll need to beat St Helens for a third time this season, something that would incredibly see them complete a clean sweep over Paul Wellens’ men.

The squad news is now confirmed.

The main squad news heading into this fixture is that Konrad Hurrell, who had just returned to action, picked up recurrence of a calf injury on Sunday and is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks. Dan Norman late on at Wakefield suffered a head injury and is ruled out due to protocols.

Into the squad then come youngsters Matthew Foster and Wesley Bruines, both of which have featured for our Reserves outfit in 2023 who will be taking on Wigan Warriors in the coming weeks for the Reserves Grand Final