Salford Red Devils will be without halfback Todd Carney for the club’s opening Betfred Super League fixture of the season with Wigan.
The Australian is still going through the process of securing a work visa to join the club, meaning he will not be in the country for the clash with the defending champions.
Ian Watson is without a number of key players for the clash, with Logan Tomkins, Josh Jones, Ben Murdoch-Masila and Weller Huaraki all ruled out through injury.
Ian Watson has announced his first 19 man squad of 2017! #WeAreSalford pic.twitter.com/Kk3Ac5tMET
— Salford Red Devils (@SalfordDevils) February 9, 2017
Meanwhile, Wigan begin their title defence without Sam Tomkins, Dom Manfredi and Michael McIlorum, who are all long-term absentees.
However, Shaun Wane is set to hand a debut to Morgan Escare, while Joe Burgess and Thomas Leuluai are in contention to make their second debuts in cherry and white.
SQUAD NEWS
.@escare_morgan1 in line for Warriors debut at Salford. New signings Leuluai and Burgess also in squadhttps://t.co/943130DTNE pic.twitter.com/hWl6bPIXFO
— Wigan Warriors ?⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) February 9, 2017