St Helens braced for bad news on forward’s injury as early prognosis made by Paul Wellens

St Helens coach Paul Wellens admits they are braced for a bad verdict on the injury that left forward Jake Wingfield in a boot and on crutches on Friday.

Wingfield went down clutching his lower leg during the second half of the Saints’ 34-4 victory at Wakefield Trinity, which strengthened their position inside the top six and moved them back up to fourth.

But they are facing up to the loss of Wingfield for a prolonged period, with the prop set to undergo scans to determine the severity of an injury that did not look good on first glance.

Wellens admitted they will rally around Wingfield, who is potentially set for another spell on the sidelines.

When asked if they were fearing bad news, Wellens said: “Potentially. It doesn’t look good. He’s in a fair bit of pain and he’s not had much luck in recent times. We’ll put our arms around him, get him assessed and hope for good news.”

Wingfield was one of two Saints forwards to suffer injuries during the game, with veteran back-rower Curtis Sironen going off and subsequently failing a HIA that rules him out of next weekend’s game against Huddersfield Giants.

And Wellens admitted he was thrilled with how his side responded to those respective setbacks.

He said: “There was a bit of adversity in the game but we dealt with it well at Leeds and it was great to see the team respond well again.

“We racked up some points on the board and if you come into your house and turn the TV on you’d think that was an easy game but it was anything but. The way we stood up to that was excellent.”

The victory moved the Saints to within just a point of third-placed Leigh Leopards with six rounds of the Super League season remaining.