Wakefield Trinity boss warns of tough tests ahead in next five outings

After seeing his side climb into Super League’s top six in recent weeks the Trinity boss will be delighted if they can stay there with some tough tests ahead, starting with a derby against Leeds Rhinos at Headingley on Saturday.

The Wakefield side then meet Leigh Leopards, Wigan Warriors and Hull KR in June followed by a game against Catalans Dragons and will know about their play-off credentials at the end of that period.

"This next block of games are pretty tough so we’re going to find out a fair bit about us over the next five weeks,” said Powell.

"It’s 100 per cent going to test us and I don’t think we’ve got an awful lot coming back (from injury) in that period.

"I think we’ll get Tommy Doyle back in the next two or three weeks and maybe Truey, we’ll see how that goes, but there’s not an awful lot coming back.

"If we can hang tough in and around the top six come the end of the year then we’ll be in a good spot.”

Powell rotated his squad for the Salford game with Liam Hood and Josh Griffin rested.

He explained: "They could have played, but I decided to give them a little bit of a breather. We've got a big game against Leeds and I feel like they had been doing a lot of work so it made sense.

"I gave Mike (McMeeken) and Pittsy slightly less minutes and again it’s a big game next week and we needed to get ready for that.

"I feel like we ticked every box. We have given a couple of opportunities to some younger guys and less minutes to some players who have been unbelievable for us because we have got so many injuries.”

Centre Oliver Pratt missed the game with an ankle knock, but is expected to be fit for the Rhinos clash.

Powell is delighted with the recent performances that have defied a lengthy injury list.

He added: “The players are starting to believe that it doesn’t matter who takes the field for us, we are going to look all right.

"We’ve got an unbelievable captain in Mike McMeeken who anchors everything.

"We’ve got three half-backs sat injured and we’re still doing some special things. It says a lot about the recruitment, how hard we’ve worked as a coaching group.

"If players are getting better in your system then you know your coaching’s going right.

"We’ve got recruitment right, I think our coaching’s pretty good and the players are class, how hard they’re working."