Wakefield could be without captain Danny Kirmond for the remainder of the season.
Trinity skipper Kirmond left the field during the early stages of their win over Widnes on Sunday with a knee injury, and Chris Chester has confirmed the worst fears of many Wakefield fans: that Kirmond could be gone for the rest of 2018.
He said: “It’s not looking good for Danny. He’s had to have a couple of micro-fractures in there; initially we just thought it was the lower end of the repair but we’re looking like a three-month timescale now with the operation he’s had.
“They went into the knee and found more damage than what showed up on the scans. It’s disappointing for Danny because he’d just got his face in the team again, so he’s going to be a massive loss. I thought the best game he’d had was the week previous and it’s very unfortunate the way he got injured in the tackle.”
Chester also said there is an outside chance he could play again this year – but they are erring on the side of caution when it comes to Kirmond’s recovery.
He said: “The three-month timescale probably writes the rest of this season off – but who knows, he’s a quick healer. The timescale we’ve been given, though, is a minimum of 12 weeks.”
However, Chester admitted there was more positive news elsewhere on the injury front – with Wakefield hopeful of welcoming back two key players by the time the Super 8s start.
“Craig Huby is six to seven weeks away still, but Joe Arundel is progressing well – he’ll be about four weeks, as will Scott Grix,” he said.
“Come the split for the Super 8s we should have at least two of those three guys available, so that’s really positive news for us.”
