Warrington Wolves prop Joe Bullock has been ruled out for at least a month with an elbow injury, Daryl Powell has confirmed.
Bullock, an off-season signing from Wigan Warriors, has played in all five matches so far this season but will now be sidelined.
“I thought he was going well for us, particularly carrying the ball, so it’s disappointing for him and for us,” said Wolves head coach Powell.
“He’s probably four of five weeks. It’s a tough one but it is what it is.”
One positive piece of injury news is a potential debut for Billy Magoulias, who was named in the 21-man squad for the first time for Saturday’s visit of Wakefield Trinity.
The back-row forward, who joined the club from Cronulla Sharks in the autumn, suffered an ankle injury in pre-season and Powell said he was close to pulling the Wolves shirt on at last.
“We’ll have a look at him tomorrow and see where he’s at,” said Powell of the chances of Magoulias playing in the Channel 4-televised Super League clash. “He’s trained today so I’ll make a decision on him tomorrow.
“But he’s not far off. If he doesn’t play tomorrow, it’ll potentially be next week.”
Wakefield have won only one of their opening five games of the season but Powell has warned his side to be on alert for what is thrown their way.
“They move the ball a lot,” he said. “A few weeks back against St Helens they really moved the ball and they weren’t afraid of making errors, and they ended up breaking St Helens up a little bit, so they’re threatening.
“They’ve got some high-quality players in there, and different players like David Fifita who is completely different to anyone in this competition. You have to be able to deal with those threats.”