Wigan Warriors man set for surgery as pre-match withdrawal revealed

Wigan Warriors look set to be without winger Abbas Miski for a lengthy period after it emerged he will undergo knee surgery sooner than expected.

Miski has been battling a problem with his knee for a number of weeks, but he looked set to return to the Warriors side in Saturday’s game against Leeds Rhinos.

However, he withdrew pre-match, with Jacob Douglas a late replacement for the Lebanon international.

And Wigan coach Matt Peet revealed after the game just how bad the problem has been for Miski of late – and while surgery was always planned, it will now be something they cannot ignore.

Peet said: “I feel for him. He’s doing it tough at the moment and I’m really proud of the way he’s trying his hardest and battling through the pain.

“A lot of people don’t realise what players put themselves through behind the scenes. He actually needs a surgical procedure and we’ll get that done when we can.”

Peet admitted that Wigan may now have no choice but to send Miski under the knife. The initial hope was that the winger could play through the problem for a while before surgery, but that may now not be an option after he missed out on the defeat at AMT Headingley.

“We were just hoping to get a few more games out of him, but we might have to bring that forward. We’ll have that conversation.”

The defeat was Wigan’s second in consecutive games, but Peet stressed that there are still plenty of positives to be taken for his team.

He said: “It was a good game which ebbed and flowed. Leeds were the better team at the start of the game and points came whereas we grew into the game and raised the bar in the second half. In the end we didn’t get the result but there’s plenty to be proud about and some lessons we’ll learn.”