Wakefield Trinity boss Daryl Powell reacts to Tom Johnstone injury ahead of Belle Vue return

Johnstone has been a regular in his two seasons with Catalans Dragons – scoring 37 tries in 46 games – but faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a fractured fibula in the recent defeat at Castleford Tigers.

However, the nature of the injury means the 28-year-old could play again this season before joining Catalans team-mate Mike McMeeken at Belle Vue as a marquee player.

"Breaks are not too bad generally, unless you have complications like Paul McShane did with a pin," said Powell.

"The ACL is a terrible injury and the ruptures to ligaments are the worst ones. They tend to take longer than breaks.

"You don't want to see people injured but in some ways it's a benefit, especially for someone like Mike who has played I don't know how many games. He's missed a huge part of the season which means he'll be pretty fresh – and he's a great professional anyway.

"I wish those boys all the best."

Powell's current injury problems worsened on Sunday after Caleb Uele joined the casualty list, which features fellow forwards Renouf Atoni and Ky Rodwell.

Atoni and Rodwell are on course to return against Sheffield Eagles next week but Uele is expected to miss that game.

"It's a knee ligament injury," said Powell.

"We don't yet know how long he'll miss. It's not a bad one – it's an MCL.

"He'll get a scan and it depends on the grading. The conservative estimate is two or three weeks."

Wakefield are on track to win the League Leaders' Shield after restoring their seven-point advantage at the top with a thumping 46-18 victory over Featherstone Rovers.

Trinity will play 36 competitive games in 2024 if they reach the Grand Final, a fact not lost on Powell as he plans for the final nine rounds of the regular season.

"I'd call it the Sunday marathon because we play every Sunday and it's hard for blokes to get some time to spend with their families on a weekend," said the Wakefield boss.

"We play Sheffield on Friday in a couple of weeks' time and the boys have got a four-day break after that, which will be like manna from heaven for them.

"In terms of managing the players, if we had everyone fit, we could roll people around but that's quite hard at the moment.

"I'm hoping for a bit of luck at some point that gives us a chance to look after a few players.

"We've got a plan in place but that's going to rely on people being healthy and that's not always the easiest thing to predict. I'm hoping it pans out a little bit better than the last five or six weeks."