Crusaders and Saints follow grail to the end

(Getty Images)

The Crusaders and the Saints both have plenty to play for at Wrexham tonight.

The Welsh side are still in with a real chance of finishing in Super League's top eight and going into the play-offs, which would be a major achievement at the end of a difficult first season at the Racecourse Ground.

St Helens, denied their usual trip to Wembley by their Challenge Cup semi-final defeat by Leeds, are locked in a battle for second place with Warrington.

They are sticking this evening with the new half-back partnership of Kyle Eastmond and Jonny Lomax, who performed so well against Bradford last week. That was Eastmond's first game back after an ankle injury and the versatile Lomax's first match at stand-off in the first team.

"Jonny hasn't played six for two years, so he was a little nervous at the start and will be so much better for the run," said his coach, Mick Potter.

Lomax's emergence in that role, after playing everywhere from full-back to hooker, is timely for Saints, who have been warned not to expect Leon Pryce back this season. The first-choice pivot is out with a neck injury and specialists say that he could need an operation.

In the one change to Saints' squad this evening, Gareth Frodsham could make his first appearance of the season at prop.

Crusaders hope to welcome back Vince Mellars after a three-match absence with a shoulder injury. The centre from New Zealand is the side's leading try-scorer with 10 and his recall in place of Elliot Kear is the one change in Brian Noble's squad.

Gareth Thomas is still nursing a groin injury, but hopes to be fit for the final league match of the season against Hull KR in a fortnight and for Wales' autumn internationals.

Noble, meanwhile, is still the subject of a League investigation into allegations that he confronted the referee, James Child, after Crusaders' last-minute defeat by Hull last weekend.

The big game tomorrow is at Hull KR, where Wigan need just a point to win the League Leaders' Shield, which has looked to be their destiny all season. They have Cameron Phelps and Amos Roberts back in their squad, but Stuart Fielden is serving a one-match ban.

Chev Walker will make his comeback in Rovers' Under-20s side, almost a year after a compound fracture of his leg.

Castleford, still in with a chance of making the play-offs, have lost Ryan Clayton for the season with a pectoral injury. The teenaged hooker Adam Milner is added to their squad at home to Harlequins, who are looking for a new coach after the resignation of Brian McDermott.

The Rugby League has sold all 72,000 of its tickets for the Carnegie Challenge Cup final at Wembley next Saturday. The remaining 18,000 are reserved for Club Wembley members.