Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell has provided an injury update and confirmed that he will make changes to his side after the shock loss to Toulouse Olympique.
Powell was eager to emphasise that there won’t be ‘major surgery’ with the Trinity boss also unable to fully explain the reasons behind their poor performance in round one.
Speaking to the media before Sunday’s game against Huddersfield, Powell was asked what went wrong and responded honestly: “Everything… It’s very hard when you’re saying everything. It’s hard to put your finger on. I just thought they played pretty well. We were right at the bottom of our performance levels and they deserved to win. That’s it. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Such a performance does mean changes will be made, with Powell confirming: “There will be one or two changes. There’s some benefit of the doubt as well given in the team, that’s the way it is.
“There are some players I know will respond but I’d say (there will be) a couple of changes here or there, but it’s not major surgery in terms of the team.”
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Wakefield Trinity still waiting on Tom Johnstone return
No fresh injuries were picked up in round one but there could be two players back in the frame this week with Oliver Pratt and Ky Rodwell both training, thus offering Powell options to change things up.
Two men who are expected to miss out but could be close come round three are star winger Tom Johnstone and powerhouse prop Caius Faatili.
“Tom and Caius (Faatili) are looking alright and won’t be too far away. We’ll see how that goes for the week after and the week after that,” the Wakefield Trinity boss confirmed.
Johnstone previously underwent minor surgery on his knee and Powell confirmed Faatili’s absence to be calf-related, stating: “He’s just had a minor issue in his calf, which is nothing major, but it’s obviously kept him out of the team.”
One man who could feature in Johnstone’s absence this week despite not playing in round one is Lachlan Walmsley, however, the Australian speedster had also struggled with his knee over pre-season.
Josh Rourke and Will Tate played on the wing last week but Walmsley and Pratt are contenders to face Huddersfield, with Powell stating: “Lachlan (Walmsley) has got a decent instinct, he’s had a little bit of an issue with his knee over pre-season, and he’s missed a fair bit. But Lachlan is an option, Pratty is on his way back, so there’ll be a couple of changes in the team.”
