Huddersfield Giants will have to face Warrington Wolves on Friday without Eorl Crabtree and Larne Patrick.

Experienced prop Crabtree is struggling to recover from an abdomen injury suffered during last Friday’s 37-20 Super League XXI defeat at Hull FC, while illness has prevented utility forward Patrick from training this week.

In their absence, young front-rowers Josh Johnson and Nathan Mason are ready step up for Friday’s John Smith’s Stadium test against leaders Warrington as the bottom-of-the-table Giants look to collect just a second League win from 11 2016 top-flight starts.

And head coach Paul Anderson knows the youngsters won’t let anyone down.

“We may not have Eorl and Larne this week, and we’ll see how they progress next week,” said Anderson, whose side is playing the Warrington home game on Friday rather than the Sunday because they travel to Wigan the following Thursday and didn’t want a short turn-around ahead of the visit to the DW Stadium.

“But in Josh and Nathan we’ve got two young players who’ll relish the chance to step in.

“I really don’t have any issues at all about playing them against the Super League leaders on Friday.

“I know that what I’ll get from them is a lot of energy, a lot of commitment and a lot of enthusiasm, which are qualities all teams need to see.

“Young players just want to go out and play, and that’s exactly what Josh and Nathan will do.”