WIGAN WARRIORS will face St Helens on Friday night with injury concerns over two key players following Saturday night’s 40-4 victory over Catalans Dragons.

Prop-forward Patrick Mago failed a first-half head-injury assessment, ruling him out this week, and centre Adam Keighran pulled out of the team warm-up in Perpignan prior to kick-off.

Coach Matt Peet explained, “We have no further injury issues from the game, just Patrick and obviously Adam, who didn’t get through warm-up, so we’ll need to look at him.

“It’s related to the knee problem of last week; he’s had a scan and there’s no major problem there but he found it too painful during warm-up.”

Peet said his players were “in a good place” before the challenge against Saints and he was proud of how they coped with a tough physical challenge at Stade Gilbert Brutus.

He said, “We came here earlier in the year and we won by a bigger scoreline than tonight and that was a physical game; we lost lads with broken bones. And it was the same again tonight, it’s always physical here, there is a lot to contend with.

“Catalans are a proud club with proud people and proud fans and the game tonight was just the kind of thing we needed.

“I love it, I love coming to Catalans and the feel of being in a different place when you come here. The crowd were very animated, it puts a different pressure on your playing group, the weather conditions are a bit different and it’s a great opportunity, particularly for younger players like Kian McDermott, Harvie Hill and Junior Nsemba to be taken out of their comfort zone to show what they are capable of.

“We are looking forward to the game in Paris next year. These events are part and parcel of what we are about at Wigan and I’m proud of it.

“The directors do a great job in trying to break new ground and support the initiatives of the sport.

“Being forward-thinking like that suits me and my group of players. We don’t want to stand still, we want to progress.”

Peet was pleased with the performance in Perpignan, adding, “We seem to be building, we’ve been beaten recently by good teams who have been playing really well but our performances have been building in certain aspects.

“Some weeks we’ve won and our performance was off, but I’m comfortable with where we are right now.

“We were very professional in starting the game and there was great physicality from both teams.

“We posted some early points but there was a period where we dipped a little.

“We conceded some penalties and we had to defend for lengthy periods, but I liked the way we defended, particularly on our goal-line, which we had to do quite a lot of.”

Regarding a series of penalties conceded by his side during the game, he added, “It’s too late in the year for me to start worrying about anything outside of my control and the players are on the same page.

“We have to control our reactions to things and our own discipline, our accuracy of tackles on the height of the ball carrier, it makes it challenging.”

Peet paid tribute to the 1,500-plus Wigan supporters in Perpignan on Saturday night, adding, “They’ve come twice this year, we love their commitment and I’d like to thank each and every one of them, even the ones watching back home on TV.

“They are such a brilliant fan-base, the players love them to bits, I’m sure we’ll have another great turnout at St Helens and it would be great to get them something else to cheer about at the end of the year.

“The support this year has been phenomenal as our average attendance suggests. I’d love to see everyone at the last two home games because it’s another good indicator that we are doing things well.”