Wigan v Salford: 21-man squads and injury update

Wigan and Salford have both announced their 21-man squads for Friday night’s round 18 fixture at the DW Stadium (KO 7:45pm).

Youngsters Umyla Hanley and Sam Halsall starred as the Warriors secured a convincing 50-6 win over local rivals Leigh on Sunday – their fourth victory from their last five games.

The Red Devils have been out of action for two weeks, with positive COVID-19 tests within their camp postponing games against Hull KR and Wakefield.

Before that, they won two of their last three games, with victories over Castleford and Trinity followed by a defeat to Leeds.

Wigan Warriors

The Warriors make five changes, including the return of long-term absentees Zak Hardaker and Jai Field, who have recovered from respective neck and hamstring problems. Liam Marshall (head), Morgan Smithies (ankle) and Ethan Havard (hip) are also back in contention after overcoming their own injuries. Suspended duo Brad Singleton and Ollie Partington drop out, as do Thomas Leuluai (hamstring), Liam Farrell and Brad O’Neill. There’s still no Dom Manfredi (knee) or Bevan French (hamstring).

21-man squad: 3 Zak Hardaker, 4 Oliver Gildart, 5 Liam Marshall, 6 Jai Field, 9 Sam Powell, 10 Joe Bullock, 11 Willie Isa, 13 John Bateman, 15 Morgan Smithies, 17 Tony Clubb, 19 Liam Byrne, 20 Harry Smith, 21 Ethan Havard, 22 Jake Bibby, 23 Mitch Clark, 25 Joe Shorrocks, 27 Kai Pearce-Paul, 28 Sam Halsall, 30 Umyla Hanley, 31 Jackson Hastings, 33 Amir Bourouh.

Salford Red Devils

There’s a raft of changes for the Red Devils, with several players returning from injury and COVID-19 protocols. Among them are experienced pair Kevin Brown and Elijah Taylor, while loanee pair Ellis Robson and Nathan Roebuck could make their Salford debuts after joining from Warrington last month. Richard Marshall revealed that 11 players are unavailable due to injury or isolation, with Kallum Watkins (knee), James Greenwood, Morgan Escare, Ken Sio, Krisnan Inu, Sebastine Ikahihifo, Ryan Lannon, Oliver Roberts, Greg Burke and Jack Wells among them.

21-man squad: 5 Joe Burgess, 6 Tui Lolohea, 7 Kevin Brown, 8 Lee Mossop, 9 Andy Ackers, 12 Pauli Pauli, 13 Elijah Taylor, 14 Danny Addy, 17 Josh Johnson, 18 Chris Atkin, 20 Harvey Livett, 22 Rhys Williams, 23 Dan Sarginson, 24 Matty Costello, 25 Jack Ormondroyd, 27 Sam Luckley, 29 Dec Patton, 30 Connor Aspey, 33 Ata Hingano, 34 Nathan Roebuck, 35 Ellis Robson.