Warriors v Saints: Teams
Wigan boss Michael Maguire has made only one change to his 19-man squad for the Good Friday derby with St Helens.
Last Updated: 21/04/11 1:41pm
Wigan boss Michael Maguire has made only one change to his 19-man squad for the Good Friday derby with St Helens.
After being dropped for the victory over Hull KR last Friday, winger Darrell Goulding is recalled in place of centre Stefan Marsh for the showdown at the DW Stadium, which can be seen live on Sky Sports.
Maguire will therefore have a near full-strength squad to choose from, with Stuart Fielden and Eamon O'Carroll the only absentees.
The Warriors secured their first win in four games against Rovers and will be looking to continue their resurgence against the side they beat to claim last season's Super League title.
St Helens, meanwhile, have numerous injury problems with Lee Gaskell and Chris Flannery joining Leon Pryce, Josh Perry and Paul Clough on the sidelines.
Coach Royce Simmons has called up 19-year-old forward Scott Hale, who has not yet played a Super League match, to help plug the gaps.
Meli return
Back-rowers Matty Ashurst and Andrew Dixon are also included and there is more encouraging news as Francis Meli returns.
Kyle Eastmond is absent with a chest infection but James Graham and Shaun Magennis should shake off injury concerns to play.
The Saints are up to second place in the table after a run of five straight wins but Simmons remains cautious despite his side's recent rich vein of form.
"Wigan are the current premiers so it is very obvious they are going to be difficult to beat. We are going up against the best and they have proven that," he said.
"They have had a hard programme this year to get ready for the World Club Challenge and they have come of that and perhaps haven't reached standards they have in the past over the last couple of weeks.
"There's not a lot of weaknesses in that team and they have some strike power in them too. We will be concentrating on a few things in attack and be wary in defence too."
Wigan squad: S. Tomkins, Goulding, Carmont, Richards, Deacon, Leuluai, McIlorum, Coley, Hansen, J. Tomkins, O'Loughlin, Prescott, Lima, Hoffman, Finch, Mossop, Tuson, Charnley, Farrell.
St Helens squad: Wellens, Gardner, Shenton, Soliola, Meli, Roby, Graham, Puletua, Wilkin, Moore, McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Wheeler, Ashurst, Dixon, Lomax, Magennis, Foster, Makinson, Hale.