Bridge out until September

Widnes centre Chris Bridge will be out for the next six to seven weeks after having surgery on his Achilles.

Vikings Denis Betts confirmed that Bridge will be sidelined for some time.

“We’ve lost Chris Bridge now for the next six to seven weeks because he’s had an operation on his Achilles,” he said.

Prop Gil Dudson rolled his anke against St Helens but Betts is hopeful he will be right for Friday against Salford.

“We’ve got bumps and bruises, a couple of twisted ankles, a couple of sore bodies of bangs and bumps but we’ll asses where we are,” Betts said.

“We’ll get people on the field and get them moving and I’m hopeful that weve come through with just the one injury this weekend.

“We seem to be picking up little ones over the last few weeks, [like Bridge] little things like that keep weakening the strength of your squad.”

Betts hailed the impact of new front-rower Greg Burke, who made his debut against Saints after signing only days before from Wigan.

“He’s been playing all year so its not like he’s not been ready to play, we just tried want to make his job as simple as possible,” Betts said.

“He’s a good rugby player, he knows what to do. He’s a pretty smart rugby player.

“He’s been schooled really well since he turned professional and what he brings to us is he brings experience of big games and he brings us youth and his enthusiasm to want to play.”