Huddersfield Giants forward Chris McQueen will play in the Challenge Cup final, head coach Ian Watson has confirmed.
The Aussie back-row suffered an abductor injury in their semi-final win over Hull KR and has been nursing the injury since, missing the Giants’ past two Super League matches.
But Watson confirmed that McQueen will “be playing for definite” as he provided an update on the squad ahead of Huddersfield’s first major final in 13 years.
The two doubts are halfbacks Theo Fages and Oliver Russell, with both battling to be fit to play Wigan Warriors at the Tottenham Hotspur.
Fages missed last week’s win over Toulouse Olympique with a calf issue but Watson suggested the Frenchman was on course to feature on Saturday.
“He’s training, he’s going through all the bits he needs to,” said Watson. “He’s done enough repetition over the years to be able to drop in at the back end of the week and be fine.”
The coach is less certain on the fate of Russell, who was forced off with a hamstring injury in that Toulouse clash.
“He’s not ruled out,” said Watson. “He’s gone for a scan today (Monday) and we’ll know a bit more later on.”
Watson will look to give the pair as much time as possible to prove their fitness, with Friday being the latest date to confirm his selection for the final.
“It’ll be Friday, captain’s run at the latest,” he said. “You want the players to all know 24 hours in advance what the team is going to be.
“The boys will get a feel throughout the week; once you’re with people daily you get a sense of how confident they are, so we’ll hopefully know the day before that but Friday will be captain’s run with the full team (selected).”
