Leigh v Widnes

10:10pm Friday 1st August 2008

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NEIL Kelly could spring a surprise and pitch Dennis Moran straight back in to face his former club Widnes on Sunday.

It had been feared the Aussie half-back would miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, but coach Kelly has said his star man has a 50-50 chance.

Moran has had a difficult first season at Hilton Park. He suffered from a back complaint at the start of the campaign before suffering a knee injury several weeks ago.

Moran has been given the green light to resume light training and a decision on his fitness will be made by the coaching staff ahead of the National League One clash.

Kelly said: “I would say that Dennis is 50-50 at the moment.

“He’s been back in light training and doing well but it’s really all a matter of how he feels when he does the full contact stuff. He might come in and say he feels ready to play, but then he might come in and say he’s still a way off. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Kelly is also hopeful that another former Viking, prop Andy Hobson, will be available.

Hobson is back in full training again after recovering from a broken arm.

“We’re targeting the Widnes game for Andy. If he’s not quite ready this weekend then he’ll certainly return at Celtic Crusaders next week,” Kelly added.

“He was playing very well before he was injured; in many ways he was the leader of the pack.”

Victory against Widnes is vital this weekend with last Friday’s defeat at Salford seeing the Centurions drop into sixth place and putting them in real danger of not making the play-offs.

Leigh have just three more league games to play after the Widnes match; Celtic (away), Whitehaven (home) and Batley (away).