Wigan Warriors forward Ethan Havard could make his first appearance of the season after being named in Matt Peet’s 21-man squad for Thursday’s home tie against Castleford Tigers.
Havard had back surgery in off-season but has been building towards full fitness in recent weeks, travelling with the squad for their week-long trip to France.
He is one of two new faces into the squad along with Sam Halsall, who is named for the first time this year.
The pair replace the banned front-row duo of Brad Singleton and Kaide Ellis, with the former handed a two-match suspension and the latter set to face the tribunal in the aftermath of the Warriors’ first defeat of the campaign at Catalans Dragons last week.
Bevan French continues to build fitness while Iain Thornley (ankle) remains out.
Castleford Tigers have suffered an injury blow with Jordan Turner ruled out of the trip to the DW Stadium after fracturing a hand in defeat at Huddersfield Giants last weekend.
Lee Radford does, however, have George Griffin back available after missing the past two games with a knock, along with Bureta Faraimo who can return from suspension.
Sam Hall also drops out of the squad for Cas, who remain without Niall Evalds (hamstring), Danny Richardson (neck), Adam Milner (back), Nathan Massey (hamstring), Callum McLelland (knee) and Sosaia Feki (Achilles).
Wigan Warriors v Castleford Tigers – DW Stadium, Thursday 8pm
Wigan: 2 Jake Bibby, 3 Zak Hardaker, 5 Liam Marshall, 6 Cade Cust, 7 Thomas Leuluai, 9 Sam Powell, 10 Patrick Mago, 11 Willie Isa, 12 Liam Farrell, 13 John Bateman, 14 Morgan Smithies, 16 Harry Smith, 17 Oliver Partington, 19 Ethan Havard, 20 Liam Byrne, 21 Kai Pearce-Paul, 22 Joe Shorrocks, 23 Jai Field, 24 Abbas Miski, 25 Sam Halsall, 28 Brad O’Neill.
Castleford: 2 Derrell Olpherts, 4 Jake Mamo, 5 Bureta Faraimo, 6 Jake Trueman, 8 Liam Watts, 9 Paul McShane, 10 George Lawler, 11 Kenny Edwards, 13 Joe Westerman, 15 George Griffin, 17 Mahe Fonua, 19 Tyla Hepi, 20 James Clare, 21 Alex Sutcliffe, 22 Daniel Smith, 23 Greg Eden, 24 Cheyse Blair, 25 Suaia Matagi, 28 Brad Martin, 31 Gareth O’Brien, 32 Cain Robb.
