England will be without vice-captain James Graham for Saturday's Four Nations match against Scotland due to a knee injury but coach Wayne Bennett is confident he will be back for the crunch clash with Australia.
The Canterbury NRL prop, who has been a permanent fixture in the England team over the past eight years, will sit out the double-header at Coventry's Ricoh Arena.
"James Graham is the only one who won't be available for selection this weekend," Bennett told a press conference at the England team hotel in Birmingham.
"He's got a small medial tear. It's not serious, he should be right next week."
Graham captained England in the recent game against France in the absence through suspension of Sam Burgess, who returned for last Saturday's Four Nations opener against New Zealand and will play against Steve McCormack's Bravehearts despite nursing a sore side in training.
Bennett will restrict his changes to a minimum, bringing in Wigan duo George Williams and Liam Farrell after leaving them out of his initial 19-man squad for the game against the Kiwis in Huddersfield.
The England players reported back for training on Tuesday at the University of Birmingham, with Bennett insisting they have moved on from their agonising 17-16 defeat by New Zealand.
"Everybody turned up in good spirits today," he said.
"We had a good training session.
"I've had enough losses in my life to be able to handle them and help players handle them."
Bennett accused his players of naivety in the wake of the defeat by the Kiwis and on Tuesday insisted nothing needs to change drastically as they prepare to take on Scotland for the first international between the two countries.
"What we want is another game playing together to get used to each other, that's the key," he said.
Share
