Huddersfield look to bounce back against table toppers Catalan at the John Smith’s

Huddersfield Giants take on high-flying Catalans Dragons at the John Smith’s stadium in round 12 of the Betfred Super League on Thursday night with the two teams in contrasting form.

Huddersfield come into the game off the back of just two wins in their last six games having had to struggle with a build-up of injuries and absentees over the past few weeks which lead to them only being able to name 13 players in a provisional match day squad for a recent game.

Last time out, they lost 17-10 away at Hull FC despite being 10-0 up at the interval in that one. They sit 10th in the Super League table and despite having games ‘in hand’, a win is needed soon to start a climb up the rankings.

Meanwhile, their opponents this week – Catalans – have won their last five outings and sit top of the Super League table so will be full of confidence ahead of their trip to Yorkshire. The Dragons will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the table with a win, currently two points – and 10% better off in terms of win percentage – ahead of second-placed St Helens.

On their last outing, the French outfit ran out 16-6 winners away at Castleford Tigers and only conceded the one try five minutes before the final hooter.

Squads

Going into this one, the picture still isn’t all that clear for the Giants in terms of a resolution to their ongoing injury crisis. Both Michael Lawrence and Adam O’Brien are set for a prolonged period on the sidelines having had surgery and captain Aidan Sezer picked up an injury while featuring for the Combined Nations All Stars against England last week. Meanwhile, half-backs Lee Gaskell and Jack Cogger will also be absent.

As a result of the missing bodies, head coach Ian Watson has confirmed that he will be handing a debut to youngster Will Pryce. Son of former Great Britain star Leon Pryce, Will was described by his boss as ‘confident’ and ‘very impressive’ in the pre-match press conference for the meeting with the Dragons. Watson noted that there would likely be pressure on Pryce because of his dad’s achievements in the game, but said that he and the management team at Giants just want the youngster to go out and play the game his own way.

Elsewhere, in the Catalan camp, England internationals Sam Tomkins and Tom Davies return from international duty while club captain Benjamin Garcia is back in the matchday squad having received the green light from the club’s medical staff to return. Tomkins will be keen to return to club action as he looks to complete the feat of scoring 1000 Super League points, now needing just four more to reach that milestone.

The Dragons will however be without Joel Tomkins, Micky Mcllorum and Alrix Da Costa who are all ruled out due to either injury or suspension.

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