11:10am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Christopher Terris Taylor
WOLVES coach Tony Smith has admitted that injured half back Lee Briers is ‘unlikely’ to feature in Friday's blockbuster clash with local rivals St Helens.
The talismanic playmaker, who was born and bred in close proximity to Saints' Knowsley Road Stadium, picked up an ankle injury in the narrow defeat to Wigan a few weeks ago and has struggled to regain full fitness.
Smith said: “We’ve decided that we’re probably not going to play him this week.
“It is a game he is unlikely to play in but I haven’t completely ruled him out in final.
“He will have to improve drastically between now and Friday to make it.”
It is a massive blow for the Wolves stalwart, who will be disappointed not to be in the team to face Saints for the final time at Knowsley Road.
But Smith is adamant that even without Briers, Wolves have enough in reserve to break the long running ‘Saints hoodoo’ that has seen Wolves lose every away game at the stadium since 1994.
“We’d love to have Lee there, he’s a quality player and he adds strength to the team but I’m glad we’re past the ‘we can’t win without Briers’ tag,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of quality players and a lot of depth and coverage, so when we do get injuries we can adequately replace them."
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