Wakefield Trinity give debuts as they suffer another Covid positive test

He will give youngsters Connor Bailey and Yusuf Aydin their debuts, see the long-awaited return of Ben Jones-Bishop and hand Jay Pitts the captaincy for the clash at St Helens.

Captain Jacob Miller is also one of those missing as struggling Trinity - who saw their last game against Leeds Rhinos postponed last Thursday after receiving two positive tests - look to get back up and running.

Assessing the situation, Chester admitted: “It’s tough for every team and every side has had some difficulties over the last three or four weeks.

“We’ve certainly had our fair share these last two weeks.

“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.

“We’ve got nine players stood down and two important members of our medical staff.

“We picked up a couple (of positive tests) from the Catalans game and had another one during the week so we’ve had to stand down a few players for certain reasons.

“Although difficult, one of the positives is that we can give some opportunities to some of our young kids.

“We’re throwing in young Connor Bailey, Yusuf Aydin and Titus Gwaze this week while we welcome back Jay Pitts - who will captain the side - and Reece Lyne - who will be vice-captain - so we have a couple of leaders in there.

“We’ve some important squad members missing due to Covid and it hasn’t been ideal as we only had one session on Monday and then a quick 30 or 40 minutes out on the field for the team run today.

“But we’re just looking forward to seeing what this young side - that has literally been thrown together - can do.

“We’ve got Bish back as well and it’ll be great to see him out there after a challenging eight to nine months.”

Experienced winger Jones-Bishop, 32, makes his first appearance of the year after recovering from a blood clot.

Chester says Tony Gigot - in the 21-man squad - has needed to be stood down for Covid-related reasons so Bailey will partner Ryan Hampshire in the halves.

However, prop David Fifita remains absent after being stood down by the club for refusing to wear a GPS vest.

Chester said: “He’s still stood down and is returning to training on Friday.

“There’ll be some discussions then with myself, Dave and (CEO) Michael (Carter).

“I was quite clear a couple of weeks ago about how one bloke’s actions had hurt everyone else and it could and should have been avoided.”

Meanwhile, Chester has not yet been briefed on the surprise news this morning that RFL changes which will see the Super League table decided on points percentage.

“I only found out about 30 seconds ago so I don’t know all the ins and outs of it,” he said, at today’s press call.

“There’s worries that some games are going to get called off this year - we’ve had a couple for one reason or another - but I’ve not really had chance to look at how it all works.”