Rudd ruled out for six weeks

Carl Rudd (ankle ligaments) faces up to six weeks out in a major blow for Whitehaven RLFC coach David Seeds.

However, Tane Manihera returns from a back injury that kept him out of last week’s 22-18 win at South Wales Scorpions.

Seeds said: “We were really pleased with the win, especially after most of the team had played against Halifax on Wednesday night, but there is still room for improvement.

“We need to be a bit better than last week when we face Keighley Cougars on Sunday.

“Playing the Cougars is tough test for us. Their signing of Jason Demetriou was a big signal of their intent, and then beating Toulouse Olympique a few weeks ago was an outstanding result.

“We’re fully aware of how well they’re playing, so the lads are going to have to step it up a gear this week.”

Keighley coach Jason Demetriou (quad) is 50/50, while Ben Sagar (hamstring) and James Haythornthwaite (illness) are both expected to miss out.

Demetriou said: “Whitehaven will be looking to get back to zero points and start pushing up the table as quickly as possible.

“Not a lot of teams will get three points from a trip to Whitehaven, so if we can do that it will be massive for us, particularly at the back end of the season.

“They’re a strong team and I don’t think it’ll be long before they get rid of that points deduction.”