Wakefield Trinity not playing the victim after latest injury blow, insists Mark Applegarth

Trinity produced their best performance of the year to claim a comfortable win over Salford Red Devils last week, only to lose Luke Gale to a freak injury in their preparations for Friday's clash with Wigan Warriors.

Gale, who played an important role in the defeat of Salford, has been restricted to two appearances in as many months due to fitness issues to sum up Wakefield's season-long injury troubles.

But as he prepares Trinity to face Wigan without eight first-teamers, Applegarth is not looking for sympathy.

"We try not to make a song and dance about it," said the Wakefield boss.

"Luke Gale is a quality player who adds a lot of value to whichever team he’s in but it’s a good chance for someone else to step in.

"It’s a blow for Galey but he’s still there behind the scenes helping everyone.

"You can either play the victim or get on with it. We won’t use it as an excuse. We’ve got to have a better mentality than that."

Gale – an arrival from Keighley Cougars in early May – was hoping to build on a promising start when he went over on his ankle during a training session earlier this week.

Wakefield have ruled out a break but are sweating over the results of a scan that took place on Thursday.

“It was a freak accident," said Applegarth.

"He put a kick through in training and just as he was pulling up he tripped over someone’s leg and caught his other foot in the grass.

"I didn’t see it live – I watched it back on the drone footage – but saw him writhing around on the floor in pain. We’re hoping it’s not as bad as first feared.

"We’ll see what the scan shows but it’s definitely not broken. We’re just hoping it’s a sprain and doesn’t need surgery.

“Luke’s a great professional and he’s worked so hard so I just hope he does still get to play a big role for us before the season ends. We should find out the results of his scan later this evening.”

With Morgan Smith out for the season and Mason Lino still a week away from his return, Applegarth could go with a "left-field" option to partner Will Dagger for the visit of Wigan.

It is not all doom and gloom for Wakefield on the injury front with Jai Whitbread, Kevin Proctor and Samisoni Langi all poised to return.

Wigan travel to Belle Vue on the back of three straight wins but Applegarth is buoyed by the return of some experienced heads.

“Wigan are coming back into form," he said.

"They’re a really well-run club, with a strong sense of identity and a lot of star players, the obvious ones being Jai Field and Bevan French.

“They’re the stuff of nightmares if you don’t control that ruck. Wigan are a side who will be challenging for honours at the end of the season.

"But we know what we've got to do and how we can match that. We need to focus on ourselves and let them worry about us.

"We need to keep working on our confidence and composure and having senior lads back has been great offering that leadership we’ve needed.”