Moose is ready to claim national spot, says coach
SALFORD co-captain Lee Mossop is expected to be fit for the visit of St Helens tonight, despite not being named in the Red Devils’ initial 19-man squad.
The 30-year-old has spent part of the week in a ‘moon boot’ after picking up a foot injury against Hull KR, but has been passed fit to play.
“He’s seen a specialist and physios, we’ve had loads of communication going on over the last couple of days, but he’s fine,” said coach Ian Watson.
“We took him out of the squad because we didn’t know whether he was going to play or not but they’ve all looked at it. It’s about his pain threshold and, if he can handle it, there are no dramas.”
Former England international Mossop will be coming up against three members of Wayne Bennett’s likely first-choice front row in the shape of Alex Walmsley, Luke Thompson and James Roby, who leads the way in the standings for the Steve Prescott Man of Steel Award.
“It’s a good test for our middles,” added Watson. “Lee Mossop has re-built over the last couple of years to get his shoulders right and to get his fitness levels up there and I’m sure he will be targeting this game to try to get back into a Great Britain spot.
“I know he’s really ambitious as a player and he wants to get back to winning things and to get back to international recognition. There’s no better way for him to make a statement than to outplay a Luke Thompson or an Alex Walmsley live on Sky and let everyone see that Moose is back to his best.”
The Red Devils have won three of their opening four Betfred Super League fixtures, but suffered a heavy defeat to Leeds Rhinos in their last match at the AJ Bell Stadium.
After bouncing back against Hull KR, Watson is keen for his side to show what they are really about against the unbeaten Saints.
He said: “You need to beat those teams. It’s no good beating a St Helens and losing to all them three. But your true kind of test of your strength in depth and your quality comes against these best teams, the Wigans, the Leeds, the St Helens.
“The test for us is to stay in that arm wrestle against the best teams. We let ourselves down, to be fair, against Leeds. We know we need to be better this week.”