HUDDERSFIELD Giants will be waiting on the fitness of club captain Leroy Cudjoe as they prepare for their Super 8s trip to Hull FC on Friday.

The 29-year-old England international centre was included in Giants head coach Rick Stone’s 19-man squad for the trip to Wigan Warriors, but did not make the matchday 17 for the 18-4 defeat at the DW Stadium.

“Leroy picked up an ankle injury in the Wakefield game, it had some swelling and he had a couple of scans,” explained Stone.

“We thought there was a chance he might make it for the Wigan game, but it would have been too much of a risk in the end.

“I don’t think that he will be out for too long.

“He will probably be back for next week, or if we have to give him time it will be the week after the Challenge Cup final.

“It was one of those ones where he had a chance for the Wigan game, but we decided his more realistic chance was going to be the Hull game.”

However, Stone is looking forward to having players back for the trip to the KCOM Stadium, where the Giants lost narrowly 14-10 in the final round of the regular season.

“There seem to be no extra problems and there is a good chance that Dale Ferguson and Ollie Roberts will be in a position to come back for us next week,” said Stone.

“That is a positive for us because we have been a bit low on numbers in the back row.”

Back row options were also boosted at Wigan as Michael Lawrence came through his first run-out since having knee surgery in February, and Stone expects the hometown product to just keep on improving after his return.

“It was good to see Michael back on the field, but it will take him a little time to find his feet after so long out,”said Stone.

“It was great to have him back and playing and he has worked very hard in his rehab to put himself back in the frame before the season is out.

“It was just reward for Michael and he will get better. He will be better for the run-out at Wigan and he has improved day after day in training, so to get some game time under his belt will move him along again.

“We probably won’t see the best of him until next season again, but having him back is a huge asset for us going into the end of the season.”