Wakefield Trinity news: new long-term injury blow ahead of game v Hull KR as mid-season signings ruled out

Trinity will be without French international forward Mathieu Cozza for up to six weeks after he was hurt during last week’s 16-10 conquering of Wigan Warriors. England prop Mike McMeeken will sit out a second successive game when Trinity visit Betfred Super League leaders Hull KR tomorrow and Powell said his team will be without 13 senior men, seven of them from the “middle-unit”.

But the team boss stressed he has decided to give young players an opportunity to prove their worth, rather than looking to bring in more experienced forwards from outside the club. Powell has drafted rookies Ellis Lingard and Noah Hope into his initial 21, though neither is expected to play. The coach said Lingard will feature in the academy and Hope is due to be 18th man for the Super League clash.

“We’ve talked about it,” Powell said of mid-season recruitment. “But I’ve decided we are all right - we’ll go with the players from within. Jack Croft has played in the middle and done a great job and we’ve continued to do that. Cam Scott has played in the back-row and we’ve just adjusted from within. I’d rather do that. I don’t really want to bring anybody in.”

He added: “We’ve got Noah High as 18th man tomorrow and Ellis Lingard has played for us this year. I’d rather have a look at those guys. That’s why you have a squad and have young players. At the moment I feel like I am able to do that, but I am hoping we are going to start to see a couple of players coming back in the next few weeks, which will really help us.”

However, Powell admitted losing Cozza is a blow. “He got blocked off by a Wigan player last week and his ankle got caught underneath him,” Powell said. “He has got a four-six week syndesmosis injury, which is not ideal at the moment.

“We have got seven frontline middle-unit players missing now. We are incredibly light, so it is tough at the moment, particularly in the middle of the field, but we will make some adjustments like we have been doing.

“The players have been incredible, whoever has played has been phenomenal so I am really pleased with where we’re at. Obviously we’ve got a pretty stiff challenge ahead of us now, but we’ll face it with the same positivity we did last week. We had 10 players missing last week and we’ve got 11 missing this week. We’ve got used to it now, so we’ll just get on with it.”

McMeeken is due to see a specialist tomorrow to assess a pectoral muscle injury. Powell said: “I don’t think it’s bad, but I can’t give a timescale for when he’s back. I’m hoping it’s going to be in the next couple of weeks.

“He did it against Leigh, right at the start. He played the full game so it’s not a really bad injury, but it’s enough for us to be cautious with him, because he is pretty important.”

Powell confirmed he is a fan of Manly Sea Eagles forward Jazz Tevaga, but would not comment on a report he will join Trinity next season.