Rhinos wait on Sinfield prognosis

11:26am Saturday 5th July 2008

Leeds are desperately hoping the misery of their latest engage Super League defeat is not compounded by the loss of inspirational captain Kevin Sinfield for their Wembley bid.

The double-chasing Rhinos suffered a third defeat in four games after going down 23-22 in a heart-stopping epic at Wigan on Friday night, where Sinfield limped off with a suspected medial knee ligament strain deep into the second half.

Coach Brian McClennan said: "Kevin went to stand up and he could not put any weight on that leg. We suspect it is a medial strain in his knee and hopefully nothing more serious than that."

He added: "We have got a fantastic medical team here at the club and they will be working with Sinnie throughout the weekend to make sure that he has the best possible chance of recovering as soon as possible.

"Kevin will do everything right as well to give himself every chance of coming back sooner rather than later but it is too early for us to give a timescale."

Asked if Sinfield would miss the Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against St Helens on July 26, McClennan said: "It is too early to say as yet but we would hope that Kevin would be available at this stage."

McClennan admitted his side had left themselves with too much to do after trailing 17-0 at half-time.

Wigan made a dream start with two tries in the first nine minutes from Australian winger Cameron Phelps, while substitute Liam Colbon added another after 29 minutes and full-back Pat Richards kicked two conversions and an all-important drop-goal on the stroke of the interval.

"I thought we had done enough in the first 55 or 60 minutes, so we would have been disappointed if we had lost," said Warriors coach Brian Noble.

"The drop-goal just before half-time was probably a smart play in the end."

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