Wigan Warriors ace Adam Keighran on Challenge Cup suspension, impressive Zach Eckersley and Saints derby

The 27-year-old centre was forced to miss the Wembley showdown against Warrington Wolves in June, but says he was ‘stoked’ to see rising star Zach Eckersley take his chance in the capital.

Having spent the international break in Spain with his family, Keighran then returned to action in the latest Battle of the Borough encounter at The Brick Community Stadium, kicking four goals in the 24-6 victory.

“It’s good to be back. I’ve been pretty good to be honest,” Keighran admitted.

“I feel like I’m a pretty positive person. I was pretty negative about it (the suspension) for probably a day or two, but once we made a choice not to fight it and I came to the realisation that it’s what was happening, I just got behind the boys.

“I wanted to help Zach as much as I could during that week of Wembley and I felt like I did that.

"He played well and I was happy for him, and of course the team got the win.

“He’s a quiet, very humble kid. The skill level that he’s got, we see it at training every day and I knew that he was going to get the job done and we saw what he can do.

"I was stoked for him and I’ve told him that several times. He’s a good lad, he trains hard and it’s a credit to him.”

Wigan announced the huge Las Vegas fixture against Warrington Wolves during the week but attention in the camp quickly returned to current Super League action with rivals St Helens making the short trip on Friday, with Paul Wellens’ side looking to bounce back from their shock 8-6 defeat to Castleford Tigers.

“Leigh was a big game but I think it’ll step up another level this week,” Keighran said.

“I think any team that gets a sort of upset loss, they want to turn it around pretty quickly and they’ve got a good chance to do it against their rivals.

“They’ll be coming out firing, but we’ll be up for it and I’m looking forward to it.”