Warrington Wolves have been dealt a huge injury blow ahead of their Challenge Cup tie against local rivals Widnes Vikings this weekend. The two sides are due to go head to head on Saturday evening at the DCBL Stadium as they look to secure a spot in the hat for the quarter-finals of the competition.
Warrington head coach Sam Burgess has named a strong side for the contest, but the Wolves will make the journey to Widnes without forward Luke Yates. Yates has picked up an ankle injury and won’t be fit to play this weekend, which will prompt something of a pack shake up from Burgess.
Arron Lindop won’t be involved either after taking a head knock and that means Burgess will be forced into making yet more changes to his back line after seeing Toby King and Matty Ashton drop out of the fold last week.
Matt Dufty isn’t included either after missing the club’s loss to Wakefield Trinity, with Burgess bringing in Max Wood, Tom Whitehead, Jake Thewlis and Luke Thomas for the clash.
At the time of writing Widnes haven’t released their squad for the contest but they have announced that they are expecting a sizeable crowd for the game. Warrington fans sold out their initial allocation and as a result Primrose and Blue supporters will be split across two stands the at DCBL Stadium with those looking to buy late tickets set to sit in the east side of the South Stand.
Widnes supporters will be able to sit in the west end of the South Stand, with a number of blocks being left spare to segregate the two sets of fans.
Warrington Wolves: Jordy Crowther, Ben Currie, Alfie Johnson, James Harrison, Adam Holroyd, Oli Leyland, Zane Musgrove, Joe Philbin, Sam Powell, Stefan Ratchford, Dan Russell, Rodrick Tai, Cai Taylor-Wray, Jake Thewlis, Josh Thewlis, Luke Thomas, Paul Vaughan, Danny Walker, Tom Whitehead, George Williams, Max Wood.
