Matthew Elliott has received a major boost ahead of Sunday's top five crunch at Warrington with the return of four internationals.
Great Britain duo Stuart Spruce and Mike Forshaw have been declared fit after knee and rib injuries respectively while New Zealand ace Henry Paul and Tongan winger Tevita Vaikona are also back as the Wolves seek revenge for their 52-16 Challenge Cup trouncing at Odsal last month.
Paul rested his damaged knee against Wakefield Trinity last week and played as a substitute with it heavily bandaged at St Helens on Easter Monday.
Vaikona damaged his shoulder in the Super League victory over Leeds and the Wolves will be wary of him after he romped in for four tries in their recent cup meeting.
Aussie Michael Withers is also pencilled in for a return after jarring his shoulder in the semi-final defeat by the Rhinos three weeks ago.
Former Wigan prop Kelvin Skerrett aims to kick-start Halifax's flagging campaign when he returns from injury to face his old club at the New Shay tonight.
The veteran prop forward, appointed as Blue Sox captain in succession to Karl Harrison, has missed his club's last four matches after breaking a thumb in the opening-day defeat by Warrington.
Halifax are still without Gary Mercer and Martin Moana, and Chris Chester was having scans on his injured ankle today. But the return of Skerrett is a massive boost to John Pendlebury's men, who have lost three of their first five matches.
"We're like most sides; if you take four or five regulars from the starting line-up it affects you quite badly," said Pendlebury whose side visit Odsal next Friday.
Wigan, who have yet to lose to Halifax in Super League, also have injury problems, with winger Paul Johnson and forward Simon Haughton joining Andy Johnson and Tony Smith on the sidelines.
But Greg Florimo is back to partner fellow Australian recruit Mark Reber at half-back, with Jason Robinson switching to his normal wing slot and youngster Rob Ball lining up alongside Denis Betts in the second row.
Leeds, who like Halifax have just two league wins to their credit, will be looking to bounce back from their surprise defeat at Sheffield when bottom club Hull visit Headingley tonight.
"We can't afford to slip up," admitted Rhinos coach Graham Murray.
"We don't want to lose track of the league, and our minds must be focused on the next two matches.
"The team know they have to respond positively to the defeat at Sheffield."
Leeds, strengthened by the return of half-backs Daryl Powell and Ryan Sheridan, will give a debut to centre or winger Chris Chapman, a first-year apprentice who was signed from Oulton Raiders amateur club two years ago.
Injury-hit Hull, who were one of only four teams to inflict Super League defeats on Leeds last season, will give a debut to 16-year-old full-back Richard Horne, who will take over from Lee Radford, now with the Bulls, as the youngest player ever to represent the first team.
Coach Peter Walsh will not finalise his side until after a light training session today but, with 12 full-time players carrying injuries, the Sharks are certain to have an unfamiliar line-up.
Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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