Sheffield Eagles wait over injured pair

Eagles, aside from a hamstring issue for James Davey, have been injury free so far, their blistering start making Aston’s job selecting a team a simple one. But they lost to Featherstone last weekend, leaving Aston to ask some questions for the first time.

Brad Knowles and Jason Crookes suffered issues during the game. Knowles has been nursing a cracked rib, but suffered a fresh blow against his former employers, whilst centre Crookes was also struggling. Aston said: “Brad has a bad knee, and Jason a shoulder problem. There are a few other bumps and bruises to go with those.

“The two worries though are Crookes and Knowles. They are tough customers though, and we’ll assess them throughout the week.”

Aston also lost the services of Corey Makelim at Featherstone before the game.

The USA international has had an impact  from the bench this season, but he was forced to withdraw late  through illness – although his chances for the weekend have improved.

“Corey Makelim was sick and missed the game,” Aston continued.

“He wasn't fit in the end so he ruled himself out, we’ll look at him again for this weekend. He missed some of training through the week in the build up to the Featherstone game, he trained on Friday though so we thought he'd be fine. He wasn't though, he called me and said that he didn't feel great. We decided to change things, which was a shame because he has been good for us. I just also wanted to have a look at where Shaun Pick was at, because he hasn’t been involved of late.”

Aston is still yet to see the likes of Rory Dixon, Lewis Taylor and Louis Sheriff who have been on the periphery since their close season arrival.