St Helens v Hull FC: No joke as injury robs Airlie Birds of more bodies

Captain Danny Houghton (calf), Carlos Tuimavave (shoulder) and Jamie Shaul (Achilles) all succumbed during the Captain’s Run to leave the Airlie Birds facing a real selection crisis ahead of the trip to leaders St Helens.

“It’s a really unique situation at the moment,” said Radford, whose side are bidding to avoid a ninth successive loss.

“We lost Danny Houghton, Carlos Tuimavave and Jamie Shaul yesterday. We have asked for dispensation from the RFL to see if we can draft some of our young blokes in moving forward.

“If Jake Connor wasn’t coming back I think we might have been taking the field with 16.

“I keep saying it and it’s not a joke; it’s an unbelievably unique situation. That did leave us with 16 so we’ve had to drag an injured player out of the gym.

“We are still waiting on the changes to the 19 to name him. The doctor has got to sign that off first.”

It is understood Josh Griffin is the player Hull hope to be able to draft back into their plans. Saints need to simply avoid defeat to lift the League Leaders’ Shield.

But Radford said: “In terms of what I want from my team, I want us to try and get out of the blocks as quick as we can.

“Saints are a team who can put you away early on and I’m sure they’ll want the confetti out at half-time for the League Leaders’ Shield.

“We have to come out and fight well above our weight. It’s an incredibly long losing run but there are circumstances behind it.”