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Adrian Lam has challenged winger Keanan Brand to get some minutes under his belt and force him into another selection dilemma, with the Leigh Leopards boss admitting that he’s already got one on his hands this week. Leigh will travel to take on Huddersfield on Friday night with one of the strongest squads that they have had all season with the only long-term absentees being Tesi Niu, Bailey Hodgson and Frankie Halton, whilst full-back Davey Armstrong will also be sidelined. They will welcome back Jack Hughes from suspension and that’s creating a ‘nice headache’ in the pack following Leigh’s move to sign Jack Ashworth from Castleford, a player who Lam spoke of favourably at his press conference on Tuesday. He said: “Unfortunately for Jack, he hasn’t played much rugby this year at Castleford for whatever reasons but it’s a new clean slate for him here and I’m a big fan of his. “I think we’re going to improve him as a player over the next two years. We’re pretty excited about that. I thought he brought some real big impact to us when he came on in the weekend. That’s exactly what we need for him.” Ashworth played off the bench last Friday as he was parachuted straight into the team for the suspended Jack Hughes, but with Hughes now back, Lam has admitted he’ll have some tough calls to make. “It’s going to be a bit of a dilemma who we leave out of the 17,” the Leigh boss said. “It’s a nice headache to have but we’ll work that out as we get towards game day.” St Helens’ new coach, World Cup fail and Hull KR’s top six chances – Click here to watch this week’s episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show What Keanan Brand must do to earn Leigh Leopards’ return There could well be a dilemma in the backs in the coming weeks as well because first-choice winger Keanan Brand is now out on loan at Castleford in a bid to regain fitness ahead of a possible return. Brand was handed the number two shirt at the start of the season but he’d play just six games before going down injured, last playing in mid-March. He would return to the 21-man squad in early May but suffered a setback on his ankle injury, meaning Saturday’s loan showing for Castleford was his first senior appearance in 161 days. “That’s a long layoff and I knew it was going to be a little bit rusty, but there were some great signs there,” Lam said, adding: “He carried really strongly and did his job for them, I felt, and he’s only going to get better each week. “I’m pleased that we got that time out for him there. It was either that or reserves for us because he’s missed so much time. He needs some game time, so he did some good stuff.” Even if Brand shines at Castleford, he’ll have some job to dislodge incumbent wingers Josh Charnley and Innes Senior, who have racked up 24 and 14 tries in Super League, with Senior ranking fourth for metres made at 3,373. “I’m a great fan of Keanan’s. Had he not been injured, he’d be amongst our 17 every week so far,” Lam said before noting just how strong Senior has been in 2026. “Innes Senior made the Super League team this week on the wing and he’s been unbelievable this year for us. He’s gotten better and better as each week’s gone on so we’re really happy with what he’s done. “Keanan just needs to play some big minutes and play well because you don’t know when that call’s going to come. I mean, he knows better than anyone else. He’s been patient through some difficult times at this club. “He’s one of our day one-ers, if you call it that, when I arrived here. He’s been to Love Island and back and been up to the boondocks and back. He knows the path, how hard it’s been and the work that’s left to do there so there’s been a lot of clarity there too and he understands his role.” It’s expected that Brand will play on loan for Castleford this week when they host Catalans on the same night that Leigh travel to Huddersfield.