DEVIL IN THE DETAIL FOR STAR ESCARE

Catalans v Salford 6pm

RICHARD MARSHALL is backing Salford full-back Morgan Escare to shine on his home soil.

The French international (left) grew up in Perpignan and started his Super League career with the Dragons before winning a Grand Final at Wigan. Now with the Red Devils, he scored twice on his debut in the Challenge Cup win over Widnes last week and retains his place today.

Marshall said: “Obviously there’ll be no crowd there or his family and friends, but he’s from that region and wants to do well.

“I was really happy with his performance last week and I know he’s a quality player.

“He wasn’t involved in the first two fixtures and we went another way, but he’s trained really well, got his head down and worked hard.

“He took his opportunity well with Dan Sarginson’s injury and offers us energy. He knows all about Catalans being his former club and I think he’ll be an energiser.”

Marshall welcomes back key playmaker Kevin Brown from a ban and wants to a big improvement in defence from the first two league matches, when his side lost 64 points.

He added: “We’ve spoken about our defence and it’s an area we need to improve on.”