Workington Town have suffered a blow with confirmation that Dave Ecclestone will be out for the rest of the season.
The former Whitehaven winger suffered a knee injury last month and worst fears were realised after a scan revealed the damage.
Coach Anthony Murray said: “It’s a real blow because I know what Dave brings to the group after I had him with me at Wales. He’s also a good person who will be missed by everyone.
“We do have some good news though in that apart from Dave we are getting through the long list of injuries we suffered at the start of the season.
“It’s especially good to have Ellis Archer in a match-day squad for the first time after he’s recovered from his surgery.
“We have a challenging fixture at Hunslet but the lads trained well this week and are looking forward to it.
“Hunslet are a strong, physical side and we will have to match them in those areas. There were one or two things we can improve on from the Rochdale game and that’s what we have been working on this week.”
Half-back Archer joins the squad for the first time. A former St Helens scholar who went on to make his Super League debut against Wakefield Trinity in August 2022, Archer returned to his home-town club Barrow.
However, he was restricted to just five appearances throughout the 2023 season, three of which were starts.
Archer also featured for development side Furness Raiders in the College League during his time at the Matt Johnson Prestige Stadium.
The Town squad is: Brad Taylor, Carl Forber, Chris Taylor, Ciaran Walker, Connor Saunders, Ellis Archer, Grant Reid, Jack Stephenson, Jake Bradley, Jake Lightowler, Jarrod Sammut, Jason Mossop, JKJ Key, Johnny Hutton, Jordan Buns, Jordan Thomson, Liam McNicholas, Matty Henson, Sean Croston Stevie Scholey, Tyler Walton.
