Saints v Dragons: Teams
St Helens will be without their first-choice half-back pairing when they take on Catalans Dragons on Friday night.
Last Updated: 08/07/10 3:51pm
St Helens will be without their first-choice half-back pairing when they host bottom club Catalans Dragons on Friday night.
Scrum-half Kyle Eastmond and stand-off Leon Pryce are both ruled out after picking up injuries in the 34-28 defeat away at Leeds last Saturday.
Eastmond limped off after 20 minutes at Headingley with a recurrence of an ankle injury that had kept him out of the last four games.
The 20-year-old is yet to discover whether he needs surgery that would sideline him for three months, therefore ruling him out for the rest of the season.
Meanwhile, Pryce suffered a back spasm during the second half against the Rhinos and has not recovered in time to feature in coach Mick Potter's squad.
Captain Keiron Cunningham is out for a month with a foot injury while forward Andrew Dixon is sidelined with a groin problem.
Wilkin boost
However there is some good news for Saints with Jon Wilkin back after 12 games out with a shoulder injury. The England international could be asked to fill in for the injured Pryce at stand-off - a role he has undertaken in the past.
Tony Puletua (knee) and Francis Meli (Achilles) also return while Potter has included rookie Lee Gaskell in his 19-man party.
Catalans Dragons will be looking to upset the form book as they bid for just their fourth Super League win of 2010.
However they do have good memories of travelling to the GPW Recruitment Stadium. They won the same fixture last year during the final round of the regular season to clinch a play-off place.
Outgoing coach Kevin Walters, who will be replaced by fellow Australian Trent Robinson for next season, welcomes back Gregory Mounis to his squad.
Centre Steve Bell is also included but young winger Freddi Vaccari's 15-game run in the team is over after he was injured in training. He joins Dimitri Pelo and David Ferriol in the treatment room.
Despite their position in the table, Saints coach Potter is refusing to take anything for granted against a talented Dragons team.
"The win is important for both sides as they want to close the gap on the teams above them and we want to bounce back and keep in touch," he said.
"In Clint Greenshields and Casey McGuire, alongside the return of Thomas Bosc, they have plenty of options in attack and we will need to be on our guard."
St Helens squad: Wellens, Gardner, Gidley, Meli, Fozzard, Graham, Puletua, Wilkin, Flannery, Roby, Hargreaves, Moore, Clough, Ashurst, Dean, Lomax, Emmitt, Magennis, Gaskell.
Catalans Dragons squad: Greenshields, Bell, Raguin, Bosc, McGuire, Guisset, Elima, Mounis, Johnson, Barthau, Gossard, Carlaw, Fakir, Casty, Stacul, Simon, A. Bentley, Sherwin, Gigot.