JOHN Duffy says he will have some experienced absentees available for Leigh Centurions' clash with Huddersfield Giants in the Challenge Cup next weekend.

Though only time will tell if winger Matty Russell recovers sufficiently to be involved after limping out of the 44-12 defeat to Warrington Wolves in obvious pain.

"He turned his ankle in a collision near the end," said Duffy.

"When I went down after the game he had ice on it. It's a bit swollen but I think we've cleared all the major ligaments so hopefully it's just a bit of bruising."

Of five key players sidelined for the Wire game, Duffy expects a number of them will be in contention for the third-round tie though NRL hooker Nathan Peats' availability will be subject to testing after his period of quarantine ends.

> John Duffy reaction to Leigh performance against Warrington Wolves

"Ben Flower will be available, hopefully James Bell a week later, Joe Mellor should be alright next week too after playing busted for us last week, so hopefully we get a bit more experience next week," said Duffy.

"We'll have to see where Nathan is up to. I know he's been training really hard over at Tweedheads in Australia.

"Once he's out of quarantine we'll test him and see where he's at.

"Joe has had a bit of pain down his back and the back of his hamstring so we didn't want to risk that against Warrington with it only being round two.

"Brendan Elliot will be another three or four weeks yet."