SAINTS chief executive Mal Kay has reacted angrily to the news that their away game with Castleford has been brought forward to Friday, August 3.

With Saints playing Salford the previous Sunday and the England v. Wales game taking place on Tuesday, July 31, it means some Saints players will face a gruelling schedule of three games in six days.

Saints expect to have Paul Sculthorpe and Paul Wellens on England duty, with Keiron Cunningham and Anthony Sullivan lining up for the Welsh.

Kay said: "Surely it would be better preparation to have our best players fresh for the Ashes series and not run them into the ground."

He suggested the games prior to the international should be played on the Friday to give players longer to recover.

MEANWHILE Saints' coach Ian Millward was waiting to see if his post-Leeds match comments had landed him in hot water with the game's bosses.

After watching Barrie McDermott take a swing at David Fairleigh, Millward suggested that certain Super League players could find themselves at the end of legal action if the league did not act against foul play on the field.

MILLWARD has denied speculation that Saints have signed Penrith's 27-year-old winger Robbie Beckett.

He said his priority was speaking to his off-contract players and finding out their intentions before plotting any new signings.

Millward said: "I would like to speak to Kevin Iro and find out his intentions for next season. And we will probably look at something there later in the month. I would also like to speak to our other off-contract players Sean Hoppe, Sonny Nickle and John Stankevitch.

"We have not made any other offers to any other wingers and not made any decisions - our first aim is to deal with our immediate people.

" We have used up three import places for next year. Hoppe will be an import and if Kevin Iro does not go around we may have to buy a centre from Australia, so if that was the case it would rule out buying a winger anyway.

"We have only got two spots left so we have to be very meticulous as to who we bring in. We are always looking to see what is available as long as it fits in our budget."