GIANTS coach Jon Sharp will give full-back Paul Reilly as much time as possible to prove his fitness for Sunday's vital Super League showdown at Widnes (3.00).

The 28-year-old has missed the last two matches with an ankle injury.

But the club's longest-serving player, signed from Moldgreen in 1996, is back in training.

And Sharp is keen to include him in his 17 at the Halton Stadium as he bids to add to Widnes's relegation fears and get his own side's play-off bid back on track with a first win in six outings.

"We need some freshness in the squad, and Paul would provide that," said Sharp, who will hope for a slip-up at home to Salford by Wakefield, who currently occupy the sixth and final play-off spot thanks to better points difference than Huddersfield.

"Paul is a quality player and we have missed him, but Sunday is all about producing a solid all-round team display with the level of drive and determination we fully expect a side in Widnes's position to show.

"We were second-best against Castleford last Sunday (a 29-12 win by the basement Tigers allowed them to close the gap on Widnes to just two points) and we can't have a repeat.

"Yes, we've had a poor run of late (11 defeats in 15 and five on the trot), but thanks to our excellent form earlier in the season, we still have a great chance of making the play-offs for the first time.

"If we play the way I know we can, execute our plays like we can and finish off like we can, we will win."

Sharp, likely to be without second row Chris Nero (cut chin and dead leg), adds 18-year-old winger Bolu Fagborun to his squad.

Widnes will be missing centre John Robinson with a shoulder injury picked up during last Saturday's narrow 14-13 defeat at Salford.

But caretaker coach Stuart Spruce has a ready-made replacement in former Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax threequarter Adam Hughes, who returns from paternity leave.

* Giants hit the gym - Page 46.