SAINTS scrum half Sean Long could be on the verge of a spectacular return from injury for Saturday night's Wigan clash - the last hurdle to a place in the Super League Grand Final.

Although Saints boss Ian Millward has said the mercurial half back would be a long shot for selection for the Final Eliminator at JJB (7.05pm), speculation has been fuelled with news that Long has been sprinting in training and has now headed south to sports injury specialists at Lilleshall.

Even if he does not play, you can guarantee Wigan coaches Stuart Raper and John Kear have been left guessing by the speculation, and are making plans accordingly.

Millward said: "Sean would like to play and we have sent him away to Lilleshall for an intensive programme and we will see how he comes back from that. "I would say at this stage we would not play him. He would be a long shot - but our decision will have to be what is right for Sean's future not what is right for St Helens this week."

Saints dressing room looked like a battlefield after their gritty win over Hull at the Boulevard in last Friday's elimination semi-final, but Millward was sure his players will be up for the challenge of reaching Old Trafford again.

"We picked up a few knocks again, but I am confident the players will be up and raring to go. I would like to think David Fairleigh will play on Saturday. It was a bit of a gamble, which did not pay off last Friday, but we are seven days on.

"We just want to get every cent out of him before he goes home. On Friday he got hit on the wrong spot. We cannot afford to go through that again because if you lose a player it just puts extra pressure on your bench," said the Saints boss.

"Paul Sculthorpe hurt his ankle but he has trained lightly today (Tuesday) and said that he felt great. Paul's the sort of bloke who would play with one leg if he had to."

"We are very relaxed. There are two trophies in the back seat of the car. We love going to the JJB, and we are just enjoying it at the moment and will give it our best shot," he added.

Young pack man John Stankevitch, who has topped the tackle count for the last two play-off games, was relishing the challenge.

"JJB is a top stadium and you always get a good atmosphere, especially at this stage of the season. Wigan have all the expectation on them - we don't feel under any pressure and the lads who have come in have done a great job."

After picking up a knock in the Leeds game, Mick Higham is fit again and has been added to the panel for Saturday.