INJURY-HIT Leigh Centurions expect to hand a debut to new signing Phil Jones at Halifax on Sunday.

With half a dozen players on the casualty list, the signing of the ex-Wigan and England A RU stand-off is a shrewd move by Centurions coach Darren Abram.

Jones, 26, has signed a deal for the rest of this season with an option of a Super League contract should Leigh win through to qualify for the elite division next season.

Abram is delighted to have snatched Jones from under the noses of several Super League sides including Huddersfield, Widnes and London Broncos as well as other leading National League One rivals.

"Phil's club, Rotherham Titans, have gone into administration and he decided the time was right to move back into rugby league after two years playing union," Abram says. "There were a large number of clubs after him but he was impressed by what he saw at Leigh and had no hesitation in joining us."

Jones has previous played league with Lancashire Lynx and Wigan, but has recently been playing union with Rotherham after a spell at Orrell.

He said: "I am delighted to be back playing league, especially with a club like Leigh Centurions. I have kept an eye on the game whilst playing union, and to sign for this club who are definitely a club with ambition and a talented squad is something I could not refuse."

Abram added, "Phil is a class player with speed and balance. He has an excellent kicking game and ability to know were the try line is with the vision to put players into holes."

"Phil will add quality to our side this year and if we achieve our ambition has agreed a contract for Super League in 2005."

Abram is still waiting for condition checks on several of his leading players. Neil Turley (calf), John Duffy (foot), Damien Munro (ankle) and Paul Rowley (shoulder and knee) are all still under treatment while Danny Halliwell (broken hand) has joined Ben Cooper (broken cheekbone) as a long term absentee.

"I won't have a clue probably until Friday what team I'll be able to turn out at Halifax," added Abram.

"The injury situation is so bad that I'm considering recalling Mark McCully and Dave Alstead from their loan spells at Rochdale."