ROYCE Simmons expects to welcome back Paul Clough, Michael Shenton and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook for this Sunday’s Engage Super League tie at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.
Clough has missed the last four months recovering from a shoulder injury whilst Shenton has shaken off an ankle knock.
And ‘LMS’ is fresh from a one match ban.
But Saints have lost Josh Perry for the season – and both Leon Pryce and Gary Wheeler are still three to four weeks away.
“We will have Louie [McCarthy-Scarsbrook] back from suspension and Cloughie has been given the all clear to resume playing,” Simmons said. “But we’ve lost Josh Perry. He came off with an injury in the Hull game after eight minutes and it’s now a season ending injury.
“He has done a tendon at the top of his hamstring and is on his way to London to see a specialist down there. He will be operated on around Friday or Saturday and will be out for three months.
“It’s disappointing as he hasn’t really had the chance to get going. He rolled out of an injury he sustained at Manly and overcame that – but has bounced from one to another and not really had back to back games.
“Of course we all wanted things to be better this year as it is his first over here. People in Australia know how he can play and he would have liked to have got more time to show the St Helens people what he can do. But now he has to get on with his rehab and be right to start next season.”
The returning players are a boost for Simmons as they head into the final seven games of the Super League regular season.
He continues: “We’ve had three days off after a tough month with big games and the Exiles match. We should see the benefit of that down the track and I will try and do it again in the next few weeks.
“And we’ll need it as Sunday’s match will be a tough one. Wakefield have had big losses back to back and that’s scary for me. Their coach is a proud man and has a habit of turning things around.
“He builds them up and gets them going. He will roll his dice this week. They are a tough side, especially at home, and were tough to break down when we played them earlier in the year.
“We probably played the best 40 minutes of football all season against them and only led by around six to eight points. They then got tired of tackling and we put some points past them.
“We have to make them do the same and frustrate them. They will have copped a bit of stick during the week and John will have them fired up.”
