Hock and O'Loughlin calm Wigan's worriers

A phalanx of senior forwards, headed by Andy Farrell, will still be missing from Wigan's side at Wakefield this afternoon, but the Great Britain captain firmly believes that the club's fortunes remain in safe hands.

With Farrell and his fellow internationals Mick Cassidy and Terry O'Connor confined to sitting in the stands at Belle Vue, the responsibility for keeping the show on the road falls to the likes of Ricky Bibey, Sean O'Loughlin and Gareth Hock.

Farrell still has not recovered from a knee operation. "It's a question of trying to build up the strength in the leg again," he said. "I'm confident of being fit for the Challenge Cup semi-final on 13 April, but it wouldn't be right to try to rush back." In his absence, young back-rowers like Hock and O'Loughlin have had the opportunity to catch the eye, and Farrell has no doubts that they have the ability to follow in his footsteps and go all the way in the game.

Hock had not even played a first-team game before this season. "But it has helped him that he has been able to come into the team for some fairly easy games," said Farrell. "It means that when tougher games come along, like away at Wakefield, he will be ready for them.

"He's very talented and he's a tough lad who only knows one way – and that's straight and hard. He's got this instant aggression, but he's got nice, subtle hands as well." O'Loughlin was more of a known proposition at the start of the season, both to Wigan supporters, who had already seen him make a number of appearances last season, and to Farrell, who is his brother-in-law.

"He has the ability to go all the way into the full Great Britain team," Farrell said. "It's good for me as well to have these young loose-forwards breathing down my neck. It prevents one from getting too complacent."

This is not a season for complacency at Wigan. With their salary cap finally biting, they have been forced to shed experienced players, and now a badly timed run of injuries has put some extra pressure on their youngsters. At times, a perfect example being their opening-day defeat at Castleford, it has looked as though a little too much is being asked of them a little too soon, and an improved Wakefield side could make for awkward opposition today.

After several years of upheaval, Wakefield have settled down under the coaching of Shane McNally and Adrian Vowles, and they showed at Bradford two weeks ago that they can be extremely difficult to play against.

Bradford's second home game since their return to Odsal will be against Halifax this evening, while Hull need to bounce back from their disappointing effort in the Cup at Leeds when they play host to Widnes.