ST HELENS will make a late call on captain Jonny Lomax for Friday’s home clash with Wakefield Trinity.
The halfback suffered an ankle injury in Saints’ Challenge Cup exit to Warrington Wolves last weekend.
While Lomax has been named in coach Paul Wellens’ 20-man squad, he is in a race to recover.
“He rolled an ankle and it’s quite swollen at this moment in time,” said Wellens.
“Jonny, more so than any other player in the competition, is 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 play.
“At the same time, we won’t put too high a demand on him. We’ll assess him in the next 24-48 hours and make a decision.
“We’ve got George Whitby on standby, and we’ve got Moses Mbye who has played that position before – (fellow hooker) Jake Burns coming into the squad gives us that option. We’re well covered.”
Saints will definitely be without their first-choice nine, Daryl Clark, due to a calf injury also suffered against Warrington.
And Wellens isn’t yet sure whether Clark will be back in time for the Good Friday derby with Wigan Warriors: “He picked up a knock scoring a try.
“This one will definitely come too soon for him, so we’ll see how he recovers in the next seven days and see whether it has an impact on his ability to play on Good Friday.”
In better news, Lewis Murphy has been included in the squad and could appear for the first time since tearing a hamstring in round one.
Wellens said of the winger: “He’s trained really well. We’ve had a shortened week, and we only had a light session today which Murphs took part in.
“We have captain’s run in the morning so presuming he’s feeling good and comes through that he’ll be in contention.”
Harry Robertson is also in line to return after missing the Challenge Cup tie with a head injury.
Robertson is the only recognised centre in their named squad amid reported interest in Salford Red Devils’ Deon Cross.