Jed Cartwright 'in contention' for Hull FC debut as injury update given on Houghton and Cator
Francis Cummins has confirmed that Jed Cartwright is 'in contention' to make his Hull FC debut this Saturday afternoon. The Black and Whites host Warrington Wolves at the MKM Stadium, with the Australian back row forward arriving in the UK last weekend.
Cartwright has trained with the side this week and will now be given every chance to prove he is ready to take on the Wire. The 27-year-old is hoped to further strengthen and add depth to Hull's back-row, with Jordan Lane and Cam Scott arguably putting in a season-best showing against Leeds last week.
Speaking on a potential debut, Cummins said: "Jed's got a little bit of jetlag, so we've not seen the best of him just yet, but we'll look after him. He's had a good couple of days with us now, and he's just trying to get his sleep right, get training, and settle in.
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"The conditioning department will keep looking at him and see where he is, but he's in contention to come in and feature somewhere on the weekend. Hopefully, everything settles down for him, and he gets another good training session in and can debut on Saturday."
Hull are also monitoring Danny Houghton's situation, with the hooker missing last week's win over Leeds. Cummins, meanwhile, confirmed a final call is to be made, with Hull giving their veteran hooker until Friday's team run before making a final decision.
"With Danny, there's all kinds of issues," Cummins explained. "Someone who has played so many games and with the way he plays the game, there's always going to be little issues. There are other bumps and bruises, and sometimes we just need to make sure he's right before he plays.
"We want to get him in for the rest of the season as well, so it will be a late call to see where he is. It might be a little early for him, but we'll see how it goes."
Joe Cator is also expected to be out for some time as the club waits for confirmation on the severity of a back issue. The forward has been out of action for a month, having last appeared at London Broncos.
"He's not in a good way, so we do expect him to be out for a little while," Cummins added. Whether he has to have an operation or not, I'm not entirely sure."
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