Cunningham backs Makinson for England spot despite injury

St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham believes that Tommy Makinson will still claim an England spot for the series against the Kiwis later this year.

This is despite Makinson’s broken leg which he sustained in the weekend win over Salford, which looks set to keep him sidelined for some time.

“Tommy’s probably been the form winger in the competition,” said Cunningham.

“If he would have carried on going how he was going, then he would have got the England call-up at the end of the year.

“But I don’t think it’ll be too late when Tommy comes back to regain that faith from Steve McNamara and get that shirt on.”

Cuningham felt that the win over the Red Devils was a good performance from his men, though the injury to Makinson meant that the victory came with a pricetag attached to it.

“It was a good solid performance for us,” he said.

“Yet again, we go through a lot of adversity, but we come out of the other end with the points.

“That’s what rugby’s about, I think, and we’ve been through a fair bit of adversity over the last few years.

“The game came at a real cost.

“We lose Tommy Makinson, who’s just gone under the knife and had surgery. The kid’s sat with plaster on his leg and crutches and wondering when he’s going to play again.

“It’s disappointing for Tommy, and it’s disappointing for the team, because Tommy’s going really well.

“But it coincides with young Matty Dawson coming back after injuries. Matty had a game for Rochdale at the weekend and he did really well.

“So I’ve got a lot of faith in Matty, he can just slot straight into that role for us.”

Cunnigham is confident that Makinson will be back in action before the end of the Super League campaign.

“It’s not a season-ending one,” explained.

“It was quite a clean break, it wasn’t a big one. There’s a little bit of ligament damage on his ankle.

“The ankle damage is probably more significant than the break itself.”