Wigan coach Shaun Wane has admitted he’s excited to see how his injury-hit side provide a response to last weekend’s hammering at Castleford on Friday night.
Wane estimates Wigan are without over a dozen front-line players for the visit of Salford this weekend: though he is still waiting to hear whether the likes of Morgan Escare and Anthony Gelling will be available.
But Wane said that he wants his side to produce a typical Wigan performance despite such adversity against the in-form Red Devils.
“We’ll be low on numbers but we’re Wigan, and when our backs are against the wall, hopefully we will come up with a performance,” he said.
“I think we’ve got 14 senior players down. We’ve no halves, no back-up half and we’ve four people being scanned as we speak, so I’ll know more about them this afternoon and that will dictate what team I play on Friday.
“It’s going to be a very young team and the players are going to have to play well. We’re all very positive at this club, we’ll be absolutely hell bent on getting an unbelievable win on Friday. I’m genuinely excited.”
Such is the extent of Wane and Wigan’s injury issues, there is likely to be some unfamiliar faces playing in key positions on Friday night.
One of them may be Joel Tomkins – who could play at hooker or half-back dependent on whether Wane has Escare available to him.
“Joel could play there if we’re stuck,” said Wane. “Morgan, if he’s okay, he can play in the halves.”
Elsewhere, Sam Powell will likely go into the halves – while Ben Flower underwent Achilles surgery on Tuesday and is set for an extended spell on the sidelines. “It’s a long one, I’m gutted for him – he’s been our best front-rower,” said Wane.