Wigan Warriors dealt Ethan Havard injury blow as Liam Marshall update provided

Wigan Warriors will be without Ethan Havard for an unspecified period after the prop suffered a broken jaw in last week’s win over Wakefield Trinity, head coach Matt Peet has confirmed.

The 25-year-old started in the front-row as Wigan ran out 48-10 winners against Wakefield at the DIY Kitchens Stadium last Friday, with the Warriors picking up their sixth win in their last seven outings.

However, Havard is now facing some time in the treatment room with a broken jaw.

“Ethan Havard broke his jaw in the game,” said Peet in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to York Knights.

“He got operated on over the weekend. In terms of timeframes, it’s going to be a case of seeing how he comes back and check-ups on how it’s healing, and getting the metal out, but other than that, we’re pretty good (injury-wise).

“Ethan’s been excellent. He’s played big minutes as well, so it’s a hole that we’re going to have to fill.”

Meanwhile, homegrown talent Noah Hodkinson has excelled on the wing in the absence of Liam Marshall, who is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

When asked if Hodkinson’s impressive performances mean the Warriors can allow Marshall more time to recovery fully, Peet replied: “Potentially yeah when it comes to that time.

“Liam is five or six weeks yet anyway, it probably will make it easier to make sure we take that full window for recovery, but we don’t know what’s going to happen between now and then, do we? We only need to lose another player or two and things could look very different.

“Marshy is working very hard at the moment and looks great physically. Noah is obviously in good form, transitioned from fullback to wing at first-team level and he has taken to it really well and he is going to keep improving.

“I think a lot of credit goes to Noah, but some of the coaches we’ve got at the club through the pathway and my assistants here are doing plenty of work with him behind the scenes and he is just absorbing it all and getting his work done.”

Meanwhile, Peet confirmed that the club’s plan to loan experienced winger Abbas Miski out in the coming weeks remains. The Lebanon international has made two appearances for the reserves since returning from injury, scoring a try in a recent win over London Broncos.

“There’s no news there and that’s nothing to do with our end,” said Peet. “The situation has not changed for us – just no developments.

“He played a couple of weeks ago against London. He is training hard, he’s just had a good session there (on Tuesday), and he looks fit. I’ve said it before, he’ll be a good asset for somebody - he’s keen to play and show what he can do.”

Next up for the Warriors is a trip to the LNER Community Stadium to face York Knights on Saturday afternoon, 3pm kick-off.