Blake Austin ruled out with ankle injury; Warrington sweat on trio for final

Warrington will have to wait and see whether star man Blake Austin, co-captain Jack Hughes and winger Josh Charnley will be fit for the Challenge Cup final later this month.

Austin, 28, was injured in the fiery defeat to Catalans at the weekend, suffering an ankle sprain, while Hughes played more than half the match with a ruptured testicle.

Charnley has had knee surgery and sat out the Challenge Cup semi-final win over Hull.

Coach Steve Price told the club’s official website: “It is one of those injuries where we will know more in the next couple of weeks. Knowing Blake well he is the ultimate professional; he is meticulous in his preparation and will do everything right to get back on the field as quickly as he can.

“Jack was unbelievable. To play over 50 minutes with a ruptured testicle shows how much courage he’s got and his pain threshold. He put the team first to stay out there and try and win the game. He got rushed to hospital and was operated on that night. He’s home safely and doing well. He’s still got to see a specialist back here in the UK. Knowing Jack he’s one tough guy and will do all he can to get back.

“(Josh) is doing really well. He won’t play against Saints this week but will know more over the course of the next week or two.”