Salford Red Devils fear they have lost another second rower for the rest of the season in Harvey Livett.
He picked up a knee injury during the Magic Weekend meeting with Huddersfield Giants, with whom he has been linked with a move at the end of the season.
But assistant coach Danny Orr says the Red Devils, who have brought in Featherstone Rovers’ Scotland international Ben Hellewell on loan as cover, won’t be feeling sorry for themselves as they aim to keep alive their hopes of making the play-offs.
Former Warrington man Livett, a 25-year-old England Knights international who is out of contract this year, joins James Greenwood and Shane Wright in his position in having significant injuries.
Forwards King Vuniyayawa and Jack Wells and backs Dan Sarginson and Morgan Escaré are also on Salford’s long-term injured list.
In addition, prop Tyler Dupree is out for three to four weeks, also with a knee injury sustained in Newcastle.
“Harvey has not had much luck with injuries and that’s a big shame, because he’s a really skilful player, and when he gets a couple of games under his belt you see who can play a bit,” said Orr.
“He does things other backrowers can’t – his kicking game is great, for example – and we’ll miss him.
“Hopefully he could have a good few weeks of recovery and get himself back, but I don’t think we’ll see him again this year.
“We’re doing it tough, and with a few other players with niggles and suspensions taken into account, we’ve been down to the bare bones.
“But it’s a problem across the competition, so we’re not alone, and we’ll look at other loans, although it’s not easy at this stage of the season, and crack on with who we have available.”
Hellewell, 30, started a second spell at Featherstone during the close-season after two years at Leigh Centurions, and has also previously been at Warrington and London Broncos.
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