Preview: St Helens v Wakefield (R26)

Daniel Anderson intends to field his strongest team when Powergen Challenge Cup winners St Helens return to engage Super League action against relegation-threatened Wakefield Trinity Wildcats at Knowsley Road on Friday night.

The Wildcats are locked in a relegation fight with Castleford Tigers, Wigan Warriors and Huddersfield Giants while Saints need the points to clinch the league leaders? shield and an easier route to Old Trafford.

Definitely missing on Friday will be centre Willie Talau (hamstring) and second rower Jon Wilkin (broken nose), who is to visit an ear, nose and throat specialist but is expected to return to face Leeds Rhinos the week after.

?It?s more precautionary,? said Anderson. ?He doesn?t want to get another bang on it. He is seeing the specialist just to make sure everything is right but I don?t envisage any surgery before the season finishes.?

Wilkin was told on Tuesday that he will not face any further action after being placed on report for an alleged high tackle on Huddersfield winger Stuart Donlan during Saints? 42-12 cup final win at Twickenham.

The victorious squad reported back for training on Monday and Anderson says he expects all his senior players, including Paul Sculthorpe, Sean Long and Keiron Cunningham, to figure in a match that could be crucial to the outcome of the relegation battle.

?Some of our staff and some players have been phoned from different clubs with requests to get back to training and prepare professionally but we don?t need that,? he said. ?We will prepare professionally.

?I spoke to the skipper (on Monday) and he says he?s playing, Longy is playing, Keiron is definitely playing. I can?t stop them from playing.?

Back rower or centre Vinnie Anderson and prop Nick Fozzard, who were left out of Saints? cup final team, will return against the Wildcats, along with injury-hit second rower Mike Bennett, who signed a new two-year contract on Tuesday, keeping him with the club until the end of the 2008 season.

St Helens 18-man squad: Wellens, Gardner, Lyon, Meli, Pryce, Long, Fozzard, Cunningham, Cayless, Gilmour, Sculthorpe, Roby, Hooper, P. Anderson, V. Anderson, Graham, Hardman, Fa'asavalu.

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 18-man squad: Halpenny, Demetriou, Tadulala, Jeffries, Obst , March, Korkidas, Solomona, Betham, White, Rooney, Elima, Henderson, M. Field, Atkins, Watene, Evans, Latu.

Referee: K Kirkpatrick

Source: superleague.co.uk