St Helens coach delivers worrying injury verdict on Mark Percival with double injury setback

St Helens face a nervous wait to see how long they will be without Mark Percival for – after Paul Wellens admitted the early signs on his ankle injury ‘don’t look great’.

Percival was one of several impressive performers for the Saints during their 22-14 win over Leeds Rhinos on Friday night, as they booked their place in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

But he left the field in the final minutes of that victory and Wellens conceded he will have to be assessed.

Wellens said: “Mark has got an ice pack on his ankle and we’ll have to assess it. The early signs don’t look great. We’ll recover over the next couple of days, get a health check and see where we are.

“Percy is exceptional, he’s a brilliant person and like Morgs (Knowles), his team-mates have so much respect for him. Hopefully it’s not too serious for him.”

The Saints will also definitely be without Joe Batchelor for next weekend’s game against Warrington Wolves, after he failed a HIA following a head knock in the first half.

Wellens admitted he was pleased with large aspects of the Saints’ play as they triumphed to book their place in the last eight.

Three tries in eight minutes ultimately proved to be the difference, as scores from the likes of Tristan Sailor and the outstanding Harry Robertson were enough to see off a Rhinos side with plenty of effort, but a lack of cutting edge.

He said: “There was a lot to like about our performance but also things we’ve got to work on. We’re in a good spot but we’ve got improvements in us.

“We’re developing our game and we want to be a team that can hang tough and then go bang, bang and score tries.”

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