St Helens star’s absence explained after shock hospital stay on intravenous drip

St Helens were without star centre Mark Percival on Thursday evening after he fell ill following last week’s win at Leeds: and spent several days in hospital on an intravenous drip.

Percival was a notable absentee for the Saints on Thursday as they lost to Leigh. He did feature in the full game last weekend at AMT Headingley as Paul Wellens’ side won 6-0 at AMT Headingley, but did not make the side against the Leopards.

And Wellens revealed exactly why post-match, with Percival simply not well enough to be able to feature having only been released from hospital earlier this week.

Wellens said: “Percy was took ill after the game at Leeds last week and spent a few days in hospital on an intravenous drip. He’s at home now and he’s improved, but he was in no position to play a game like that.”

It was a disappointing night for the Saints, who struggled to click in attack once again for most of the evening.

Only Harry Robertson’s try with seconds remaining spared them from being nilled at home in the Super League era for the very first time.

They now have a fortnight’s rest before the run-in to the play-offs, and Wellens admitted the break may have come at an opportune time.

He said: “Maybe we were a bit conservative at times. In big games you’re going to nail a few opportunities and it took us until the 79th minute to do that.

“We need to look to add to our game and the way we attack from certain areas. We’ll assess the performance and get the team in after the short break and look for more improvements.”

ST HELENS 4-16 LEIGH REACTION

👉🏻 Leigh ratings as Leopards forward shines in history-making St Helens win

👉🏻 Leopards ‘can go all the way’ say Super League icons as ‘real deal’ claim made

👉🏻 Sky pundit labels ‘mental’ Super League expansion as plan to ‘ditch’ IMG mooted