Leigh dealt double injury blow as David Armstrong prognosis confirmed

Leigh Leopards will be without David Armstrong and Darnell McIntosh for the next fortnight at least after both suffered injuries on Friday night.

Armstrong began the game with heavy strapping on his knee during the Leopards’ defeat to Leeds Rhinos, and needed further treatment midway through the first half.

He did not return after half-time and looked in visible discomfort during the opening 40 minutes.

And Lam admitted they now expect to be without their star fullback for at least the next two games.

He said: “We had six or seven different positional changes which plays a part in disconnect in defence and the points against. He’ll be out for a couple of weeks now. He’s had an injury for a while with the medial ligament, we’ll miss him for a while.”

And Leigh also expect to be without McIntosh for a similar period after he came off during the second half with a knee problem of his own. “Darnell is the same problem, we think that will be medial too and he’ll miss a couple of weeks.”

That could open the door for Josh Charnley to come in from the cold. Love Rugby League understands an offer to take the winger on loan remains on the table with Lam admitting it would be looked at this week.

But that may now be put on ice if Charnley is needed to step into the team.

“Possibly,” Lam said when asked if injuries meant an opening for Charnley. “With Josh, it’s been pretty tough for him to accept he wasn’t in the team and this wasn’t his opportunity tonight – but we’ll wait and see.”

Leigh scored 30 points against one of Super League’s best defences but were well-beaten at AMT Headingley, conceding eight tries of their own.

And Lam surmised: “It was a weird game. We looked lethargic from last week in that heat (against Catalans). We had a short turnaround and we only trained once during the week. We’ll move on quickly and address it on Monday.”