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JOHN Wilshere will return to action against Celtic Crusaders having recovered from a hamstring injury. Pic by Bill McLaughlin
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Here's Johnny
Dave Lawrenson15/ 5/2008
SALFORD City Reds coach Shaun McRae is tipping John Wilshere to shine on his return from injury tonight, Thursday, May 15.
The Papua New Guinea international has been selected in the centres for the visit of Celtic Crusaders having ‘fully recovered’ from the hamstring injury which has sidelined him for the past five weeks.
Young winger Daly Williams will drop out of the side to make way for Wilshere’s return.
Stuart Littler will partner Wilshere in the centres with Mat Gardner moving on to the wing.
And the rest of the side is expected to be unchanged from Salford’s last game against Sheffield Eagles.
McRae said: "I am delighted to have John back in the side. He won our player of the year award last season and it is easy to see why. He is such a good all round player and he’s a thorough professional both on and off the field.
"The great thing about John is that he can be both a ball player and a runner so he gives us so many options.
"But he will play in the centres against Celtic.
"John is a very experienced player with a lot of strike power out wide. He is a natural try scorer and he can also set up his man on the outside. He always gives teams problems and I am sure that will be the case against Celtic."
Wilshere is Salford’s second choice goalkicker behind Andy Ballard, who McRae says will be out of action for ‘a couple more weeks’ following a ‘successful’ hernia operation.
But, due to Wilshere’s lack of recent goal kicking practice, Jordan Turner will continue taking the kicks tonight.
Salford will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing draw in Sheffield. And Celtic will be hoping to continue their hot run of form following successive wins at Widnes and at home to Featherstone.
McRae said: "Celtic are a very good side. Their victory at Widnes proved that.
"Half of their team is made up of overseas players. There’s a lot of experience in that team, including some ex-NRL players.
"They have a good forward pack and their back line is tremendous. And their players are really starting to gel together as a team.
"I am not surprised that they struggled a bit early on as a lot of their overseas players did not arrive in this country until late in pre-season. But they have been starting to play some really good football in recent weeks and they will be a real threat on Thursday.
"We’ve just got to make sure that we don’t let them get on top of us. We need to win the battle up front and lay a platform for our backs.
"And then I would like to see us showing more movement around the ball and more creativity near to the try line."
Salford are joint leaders of League One with four more points than fourth-placed Celtic, who are one of the Reds’ rivals for a Super League franchise.
Celtic will give late fitness tests to Luke Dyer and Damien Quigg and McRae has singled out two former NRL players in second rower Darren Mapp and centre Josh Hannay as their danger men.
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15/05/2008 at 18:12