HUDDERSFIELD Giants could be without winger Martin Aspinwall for the rest of the season.
The 25-year-old Great Britain ace suffered medial ligament damage to his right knee during yesterday’s 47-28 home Super League defeat to Warrington Wolves.
Aspinwall’s injury summed up what was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for coach Jon Sharp’s men who slipped to ninth in the table and back into the relegation mire.
The Giants winger (pictured inset) was today undergoing checks to assess the full extent of the damage, while Eorl Crabtree was also being checked over.
The Huddersfield-born prop was left dazed after being hit by Great Britain captain Adrian Morley (left) within minutes of entering the fray in the first half. Although he initially tried to continue, it was soon clear he was a ‘passenger’ and was unable to play a part in the second half.
That meant Huddersfield effectively played three-quarters of the contest with just 15 men, which Sharp admitted took its toll.
“There were many very disappointing aspects about this game,’’ said Sharp.
“And losing Martin and Eorl to injury were right up there. We’ll obviously be keeping our fingers crossed they’re both OK. But their injuries so early on in the game clearly made our task that much harder.
“Having said that, however, we certainly didn’t help ourselves.
“The number of points we’re conceding, in particular, is really disappointing.
“Offensively we’re putting pressure on ourselves by not completing our sets.
“We’re spending too much time defending and, ultimately, you have to pay the price for that, particularly against a Warrington team who were hungry, sharp and really up for it.
“Our completion rate in the first half was under 50%, and how can you expect to win games of Super League on the back of a statistic like that?
“But, again, there’s no point dwelling on what has happened.
“We have to get back up and prepare as well as we can to play at Wakefield next Sunday. We need to get back on track as quickly as we can.’’
