SAINTS will pair skipper Jon Wilkin with Theo Fages in the halves this week following the injury to scrum half Luke Walsh.

Wilkin, who has regularly deputised at seven in recent years, switched from the pack on Saturday after Walsh was led off two minutes in with what appeared to be a calf injury.

The injury is not a long-term one, but in Walsh’s absence coach Keiron Cunningham believes Wilkin will give the team some leadership at seven, admitting that this an area where the squad has its weaknesses.

Cunningham said: “I thought Wilko did a great job on Saturday. He is a good leader in the team and if there is anything we are guilty of as a club is a lack of leadership. If you look back at all the leaders we have had playing alongside each other in the past we were probably a bit spoiled at times.

“But if anything we have got a little bit of lack of leadership at the minute.

“To have Wilko on the ball more means a genuine leader in the team is influencing the game, which can only be good for us.”

Saints do have the option of Travis Burns, who has been playing in the reserves having only featured in the first team five times this year - mostly as nine.

Saints moved the ball well with Wilkin in the halves on Saturday - and that probably made Cunningham’s decision easier.

Cunningham added: “Jon plays well every week, no matter what people say about him.

“He is a really easy target for everybody. If you look at the game in depth and analyse what he does, every team in Super League would snap him up in a heartbeat for what he has got.

“We want people like Jon, who bleed St Helens rugby league.

I thought him and Theo did a great job together. Sometimes it was seamless – other times it was a little bit scratchy but they had not played together in that capacity for long period.

“We have done a fair bit of work together this week and we will get them better, but they both talented players who learn very quick.”

As for Walsh, who has started every game so far this year after a rotten run with injuries in his first two years, the news does not look too grim.

“It’s a lower-leg injury, nothing to do with old injuries,” Cunningham said.

“It’s not as bad as we initially thought.

“We’ve got to see how it responds in the next week or so.

“It’s nothing major, but I don’t think we’ll see him in the next few weeks.”