HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS prop Oliver Wilson will be stood down for a “rest period” to complete his recovery from an ongoing injury.
Wilson has been struggling with a groin issue which forced him to miss Huddersfield’s recent games against Warrington Wolves and Catalans Dragons.
He returned to their side against Castleford Tigers last Thursday for his 100th Super League appearance and made a notable contribution in a 30-12 victory.
But his problem has not cleared up as hoped and the 25-year-old won’t feature in Friday’s trip to Wigan Warriors.
”He’s had a problem with his pubis in the last couple of months,” explained Huddersfield coach Luke Robinson.
“He had an injection, he missed the Catalans game. He’s sort of aggravated it again. The injection worked but not as much (as we hoped), so he’s going to have a little bit of a rest period where he gets on top of it. He’s going to be out for a short period of time.”
Robinson believes the Giants are better equipped to manage Wilson’s absence than when a multitude of injuries had them struggling earlier in the season.
He said: “That’s what your squad is for. We were down to the bare bones at the beginning of the year. It was horrific really because we had nobody else to come in, whereas now we’ve got some bodies on board.
“One player leaves, another player is waiting in the wings ready to step in. Matty English, Fenton Rogers and Sam Hewitt all didn’t play last week so they’re all available this week and putting their best foot forward.”
Defending champions Wigan have lost two of their past four games and only beat Huddersfield with the final play of last month’s reverse fixture, played at Dewsbury.
But Robinson isn’t taking too much encouragement from that form, adding: “They did this last year, I remember.
“They lost (Jai) Field and (Bevan) French midway through the season, they had a bit of a slump and everyone knows what happened at the latter end of the year.
“It’s never an easy place to go, and especially (won’t be) when Billy Boston is being celebrated, him becoming a knight.
“It’s going to be a little bit of a party atmosphere there and we need to make sure we bring our A-game.”