Wakefield Trinity: Chester to ring the changes for friendly at Dewsbury

RETURNING INJURY victims and fringe players will get an opportunity when Wakefield Trinity visit Dewsbury Rams for a pre-season game tomorrow (3pm).
Jacob Miller.Jacob Miller.
Jacob Miller.

Ashley Gibson and Jacob Miller are set to feature after shoulder surgery and Mason Caton-Brown has recovered from an ankle problem and will make his first appearance following his move from Salford.

Wakefield got preparations for the new campaign off to a flying start with a 30-6 win at Leeds Rhinos on Boxing Day and boss Chris Chester wants his men to take another step forward.

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“I’m going to rest a lot of the players, but we’re going with nine or 10 first teamers,” he said.

Ashley Gibson.Ashley Gibson.
Ashley Gibson.

“It’s going to be a competitive game and it gives me a chance to look at some different combinations.

“I am going to use it to have a look at some of the younger players and there will be some experience out there as well.”

Anthony England suffered a minor hamstring problem against Leeds, but Chester expects him to be fit to face Castleford next week, along with off-season signing Craig Huby.

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“At the moment the squad’s looking pretty healthy,” Chester said.

Ashley Gibson.Ashley Gibson.
Ashley Gibson.

“We’ve got 25 or 26 training every day, which is good.”

Dewsbury lost at Batley Bulldogs over Christmas, but coach Glenn Morrison was happy with parts of their performance and is relishing tomorrow’s clash with top-flight opposition.

Morrison said: “We saw some good stuff on Boxing Day, in difficult circumstances.

“We were a bit disrupted, but I’m hoping we can have a tough game and keep working on what we’ve been doing and see the results of pre-season on the pitch.”

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Morrison was not concerned by the 28-18 result against Batley. Half-backs James Glover and Andy Kain were late withdrawals from the team and Morrison reckons the scoreline did not reflect the way preparation have gone since pre-season began three months ago.

“I think it has been a pretty good pre-season,” he said. “The boys have enjoyed it. They’ve done a lot of hard work. I think if we can keep everybody injury-free we will be competitive.”