St Helens boss Paul Wellens provides injury latest on Tommy Makinson and Curtis Sironen

St Helens coach Paul Wellens has provided an injury update on Tommy Makinson and Curtis Sironen ahead of Friday’s Challenge Cup tie with Leeds Rhinos.

Winger Makinson was a late withdrawal from the St Helens side that beat the Rhinos 18-8 in Round 5 of Super League last Friday night, pulling out in the warm-up at Headingley with a hamstring issue.

Forward Sironen, meanwhile, wasn’t named in Saints’ 21-man squad for last week’s trip across the Pennines after suffering a back spasm.

Speaking in his weekly press conference ahead of Friday’s Challenge Cup sixth round tie against Leeds, Wellens provided the latest on the key duo.

On Makinson, Wellens said: “We’ve actually sent him for further investigations this afternoon, it’s a hamstring/lower back type issue so it’s very unlikely that he’s going to be available for this week.

“We’re not too sure on the longer-term prognosis yet, so we’ll get those assessments done and get some information back and make a more definitive call but usually with these type of things they are things that can be a bit longer than normal so we’ll just have to see.”

On Sironen, Wellens said: “Curtis is in a good spot, he’s trained this afternoon so we’re hopeful Curtis will come back into the team and play well.

“He will come in tomorrow morning and have a check with the physios but the signs from the training session this afternoon were very positive for him.”

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St Helens boss Paul Wellens ‘likely’ to stick with the same backline

Makinson’s withdrawal last week forced Wellens to make some late changes prior to kick-off, with young prop George Delaney coming onto the bench, with Waqa Blake moving to the wing and Matt Whitley going to centre.

Wellens admitted he is ‘likely’ to stick with the same backline in Friday’s Cup clash with the Rhinos.

He added: “I thought they did a great job and it’s a different challenge at it times when you are faced with that last minute disruption and have to adapt, but I thought the guys on the edges handled that really well and it gives me a lot of confidence in the playing group that they are able to adapt and not drop their level in terms of their performance.”

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