Hull FC interim coach Andy Last has named his 21-man squad for the match against Challenge Cup winners Wigan Warriors at the MKM Stadium on Saturday.

The Airlie Birds welcome back talismanic utility player Zak Hardaker and ball-handling back row forward James Bell for the visit of Matt Peet’s in-form Warriors.

During the weekly press conference, Last also confirmed that young back rower Will Kirby has suffered a devastating ACL injury which will rule him out for nine to 12 months.

In recent years, Hull have had a habit of turning Wigan over, particularly when it is unexpected, as evidenced in a home win in Wigan’s grand slam year of 2024, does that give the interim coach confidence for the test that is coming?

“Consistency is the buzz word for all coaches, but Wigan have in the past, had some off days.

“If you look back at 2024, if somebody said to you, how many games did Hull win in that year, we won three didn’t we.

“If somebody said Wigan was one of them, at home you’d say nah, can’t be, they got them on that day.

“Wigan had an off day, Hull found some energy, found some moments, got their noses in front and obviously hung on for the win.

“Last year we was 22-6 down at half time in the cup game, then found some momentum and put them under a bit of pressure and then once we got some momentum we were able to post some points, Lewis Martin had one of the best games he could’ve had  as a young winger and Aidan Sezer was on fire that night and we beat them.

“Then we went to their place and we beat them again, I think Jack Ashworth and Jed scored a couple of tries and Jordan Rapana scored a try and we got them last year, so there are moments and that could be the case again on Saturday.

“What we need to make sure that we take care of is what we can control is our intent, what we do with the ball, sticking to the plan, being prepared to do the tough stuff against a team and a club that always challenge you physically.

“That’s a little bit of the Wigan DNA, they really challenge you physically and mentally and we will need to really play for 80 minutes, I’ve got no doubt about that and it could be our day again.”

Squad:

Harvey Barron, Davy Litten, Zak Hardaker, Lewis Martin, Jake Arthur, Aidan Sezer, Herman Ese’Ese, Amir Bourouh, Harvie Hill, Joe Batchelor, Jed Cartwright, James Bell, Tom Briscoe, Logan Moy, Matty Laidlaw, Hugo Salabio, Callum Kemp, Will Hutchinson, Lloyd Kemp, Lennon Clark, Jeremiah Mata’utia

Written by Ian Judson (site contributor & Hull FC fan)