Grimshaw is in selection frame

TRAINED AS NORMAL . . . Danny Grimshaw.

OLDHAM are bracing themselves for a Leigh backlash after the Centurions’ shock defeat at Batley Bulldogs last weekend.

The loss was their fourth in a row, including the end of last season - and was a game in which most of their star players saw action.

Oldham face a monumental task at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday (3pm) in only their second outing at this level. A measure of Leigh’s spending power is the signing for two years of former Leeds, Wakefield and Great Britain ace Lee Smith to replace injured full-back Gregg McNally.

Of the 19 players at Oldham coach Scott Naylor’s disposal last weekend the two who missed out on selection were hooker Gareth Owen and centre Jon Ford, neither of whom were at their best in the pre-season games at Keighley, Barrow and Rochdale.

Whether one or both will be given the opportunity to hit some form at Leigh is not yet known. Danny Grimshaw, who missed the 22-0 defeat by London with a leg injury, trained normally last night.

Kenny Hughes had treatment for a long-standing knee injury, but of the 21 players in the Roughyeds squad only Craig Briscoe, who will have a scan on his damaged knee on Sunday, is a definite non-starter.

For the second game in a row Roughyeds won’t have the benefit of dual-registration personnel because partner club Huddersfield Giants have a long injury list.

Said Naylor: “If Grimshaw and Kenny Hughes are okay I’ll have 20 players to select from, but to be honest I don’t yet know what I’m going to do. Danny got through the full session, but he had slight discomfort so we’ll leave a final decision a while longer. Nobody did anything last week to warrant not playing.”