Welham to miss start of season

James Gordon

Hull KR centre Kris Welham will miss the start of the season with a fractured hand.

Welham, 25, suffered the injury in the pre-season friendly win over local rivals Hull FC at the weekend, and has been ruled out of Rovers’ Super League opener against Catalan.

The England Knights international had only just returned to action after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a broken leg.

Head Coach Craig Sandercock said: “It’s obviously very disappointing for the team and for Kris, especially as he’d worked so hard during the off-season to get himself back to full fitness. Any time that you lose a player of Kris’ quality it’s going to hurt you but I’m confident that somebody else will step into that role and get the job done.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how long Kris will be out for but our medical staff, as they do with every injury, will be working overtime to get him fit and well again as soon as possible.”

Rovers came out on top 28-18 at the KC Stadium, with new signing Greg Eden scoring a brace of tries.