Wigan Warriors dealt injury blow as key man ruled out by Matt Peet

Wigan Warriors will be without Ethan Havard for the first few months of the Super League season, Matt Peet has confirmed.

Havard had been pushing towards a return to fitness after picking up a shoulder issue at the end of last season while on international duty. However, with the start of the Super League season now just around the corner, the prop has damaged his hamstring in training.

Peet was unable to provide a full timescale on the issue, but he did confirm that the England international would be missing for months not weeks, which comes as a blow for the club.

The head coach did confirm that Jake Wardle and Abbas Miski would be in contention to take on Leigh Leopards next Thursday night, though, after missing the Challenge Cup clash with Sheffield Eagles.

"There's Jake and Abbas," Peet said, confirming their fitness for the opener. "Ethan is definitely out for a while. He's pulled his hamstring in training. Jake and Abbas will both be in contention.

"[With Ethan] it was in training, he was recovering from his AC and he didn't play in those games but since the friendlies, I'm gutted for him, he's pulled his hamstring. He's been training the house down but we'll wait for consultation on how best to deal with it. It's going to be a few months at least."

Peet was speaking to the press at Olympic Legacy Park after seeing his Cherry and Whites outfit see off Sheffield Eagles 48-12 to book their spot in the Challenge Cup fourth round. Wigan didn't have it all their own way in South Yorkshire, but they managed to touch down for eight tries against the Championship side.

"I liked the way we dealt with the fixture," the head coach added. "I thought Sheffield were committed throughout. The pitch is unique and we had to contend with that but we got the job done.

"Fortunately we don't play on that surface. I wished we'd done better dealing with [the kick-offs] but it put us under a bit of defensive pressure which won't do us any harm. All in all we won't dwell on that game it was quite unique."