Wakefield Trinity: Good news and bad news on injury front ahead of Leeds Rhinos derby
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Tom Johnstone will miss his second successive game with a groin injury suffered in training, but Tom Lineham is in contention following a long-term knee problem.
Trinity coach Willie Poching confirmed: “Tom has been for scans and he won’t be ready this week.
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Hide Ad“We are hoping - the talent he is - we can get him ready and fit again.
“Especially with the Cup final break coming up and a bit of time to get him on the mend, we are hoping we can get him back as soon as we can.”
Poching said the injury is not a major concern at this stage, but added: “We are still waiting for a bit more investigation to get to the bottom of it and hopefully we get an answer on that soon.”
Lineham has been named in Trinity’s initial 21-man squad and Poching said: “He has got a chance.
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Hide Ad“He played last week in reserve grade against Warrington, which was his first hit out for a while since he hurt his knee.
“He pulled through all right, no problems.
“We gave him 60 minutes and it will do him a lot of good to have that under his belt.”
Captain/stand-off Jacob Miller is available after suspension and new signing Rob Butler, a prop signed from Warrington Wolves last week, could make his debut.
Centre Thomas Minns and forwards Eddie Battye and Yusuf Aydin are also in the squad, with wing Lewis Murphy and hooker Harry Bowes dropping out from the team beaten at Toulouse Olympique last Sunday.
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Hide AdLiam Sutcliffe, who can play anywhere in the backs, is set to return for Rhinos following a knee injury.
Prop Tom Holroyd has recovered from a foot injury suffered in pre-season and could feature and second-row Morgan Gannon is available after a ban.
Half-back Jack Sinfield is also included in Rhinos’ 21, along with the players beaten at Salford Red Devils last Sunday.