Saints' Welsby to miss eight weeks through injury

Jack Welsby has made 21 appearances for St Helens in all competitions this season

St Helens full-back Jack Welsby will miss the next eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

Welsby came off early on in Saints' defeat by Leigh on Friday and has since found to have injured a tendon in his hamstring.

His injury adds to Saints' absences, with captain Jonny Lomax also missing their next three games through suspension.

"It's looking around an eight-week return to playing, which is obviously a pretty significant blow for us," boss Paul Wellens told BBC Radio Merseyside.

"I don't need to talk about the importance of Jack Welsby. It's obviously disappointing for us and more importantly for him.

"He's the sort of player who'd love to be playing but the situation is what it is. Obviously Jack needs to work hard in terms of his rehab to put himself in a position to come back towards the end of the year and we have to adapt accordingly as a team to offset the loss of Jack."

Welsby joins Jake Wingfield, Alex Walmsley, Morgan Knowles, Joe Batchelor, Konrad Hurrell and Sione Mata'utia on St Helens' injury list, while Mark Percival will miss Saturday's trip to Hull FC having also received a one-game ban.

"We are having a couple returning this week so we can name a 21 [man squad]. We are thin on the ground, I'm not going to lie, but we have been thin for a while," Wellens added.

"The situation is what it is. But that's professional sport, we just have to adapt. It's been a challenging period."

Saints are sixth in Super League, two points above seventh-placed Leeds Rhinos.