OMARI Caro admits he is wary of Widnes’ iPitch after a previous visit left him nursing an infected wound for over six months.

The Bulls face Swinton Lions tomorrow night at the Select Security Stadium after the Championship clash was switched from Sedgley Park RUFC.

The artificial playing surface has attracted plenty of criticism since it was introduced four years ago and Caro revealed he has suffered when playing on it for Hull KR.

The winger said: “It was in 2013 and I remember seeing Shaun Briscoe, who was playing for Widnes at the time, before the game.

“He just said ‘good luck on here’ and I got a graze on my knee, a burn from the pitch, in that game and it wouldn’t go away for between six and eight months.

“The wound kept getting infected and reopening and you can wear tights on a pitch like that to protect yourself, but I don’t think I could put up with all the abuse you would get.

“You just have to hope for the best and hope you don’t get cut.

“But it is a very fast surface and will suit players like myself and James Clare a lot more than the kind of pitch we played on at Whitehaven.

“Last week we didn’t get much chance to show what we could do as outside backs, which was quite frustrating, but a gameplan is a gameplan.

“The week before against Featherstone was a different story and hopefully this week against Swinton I can get some decent ball.”

Caro scored a hat-trick in the opening-round win over Featherstone and, despite seeing little of the whitewash last week, he added: “I’ve been pleased with the way I’ve started the year.

“It was a long pre-season and it was a bit of a shock because I didn’t have a pre-season last year.

“You’ve just got to focus on what’s in front of you. It’s Swinton this week and then we will start talking about Leigh on Monday.”

The Bulls remain keen to get a number of players game-time elsewhere, with Epalahame Lauaki having been left out of the 19-man squad for the second week running.

Jonny Walker is also omitted and, while Oscar Thomas is included, Jimmy Lowes will keep any changes to a minimum.

The Bulls boss said: “I don’t think there is a great need to start rotating after just two games where we have had two reasonable performances and two wins.

“I can’t complain with that, but it will be a tough game because Swinton are a reasonable side who like to throw the ball about.

“Connor Dwyer, Bernard Dwyer’s son, looks like a bit of a handful but they have got one or two to keep an eye out for.”

On Widnes’ iPitch, Lowes said: “It was a bit of a shock when it was first introduced but everybody trains on them now.

“You can use it as an excuse if you want, but we’ve trained on 3G and 4G pitches enough times to be prepared for it.”