Long wait over

Flying wingman Darren Albert and rock solid former Test front rower Darren Britt will be out make a big impression, but compatriot Barry Ward still has three matches to serve from a ban picked up Down Under so must sit this one out.

But cause for as much excitement on the terraces will be scrum half Sean Long's first appearance in a Saints' jersey since having surgery on a knee injury sustained at Huddersfield last May.

Ian Millward said his boys were not taking this derby match, against a Vikings side packed with new recruits, lightly. He said: "It is a pretty important trial in advance of the Challenge Cup, that is why we have picked our strongest team.

"The players are taking the game really seriously. Longy and Keiron Cunningham are particularly excited about it. We would really like the fans to turn up because I can assure you that this will be a full-on game.

"Widnes have already beaten Warrington and Leeds, who have been touted as one of the leading teams this year. So we will be a good test for them because we are a top team. They will come into it to see what level they are at, and we want to see where we are at before we go into the Challenge Cup."

Millward was particularly delighted to have the mercurial scrum half Long back on board after his six month absence.

"Sean is very pumped up for this one. He can't wait - he has been waiting for this for a long time. He said it is the most excited he has ever been for a friendly. It is great to have him back because he gives us so much. He is so enthusiastic and if we had had him late last year we would have finished higher than third.

"His pace, attack and kicking are three vital ingredients. Added to that he is very good friends Keiron, Scully and Tommy and they all work very well together.

"The chemistry on the park was definitely out of whack without him although the rest of the guys did perform heroics in the face of our injury situation. No other club could have done what we did last year with those injuries," said the Saints boss.

Saints line-up v. Widnes Vikings: Wellens; Albert, Hoppe, Gleeson, Stewart, Martyn, Long; Britt, Cunningham, Shiels, Joynt, Jonkers, Sculthorpe. Subs: Edmondson, Higham, West, Kirkpatrick, Bennett, Stankevitch, Gardner.

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Saints' first team squad returned on Sunday night from a very productive training week in Marbella, which has helped the new players in the squad to gel.

Millward said: "It was really important for us because it was the first week back for the three Great Britain players - Joynt, Sculthorpe, Wellens. It allowed us to have some good interaction with the new boys from Australia. Joynt looks fresh, Sculthorpe is jumping out of his skin and Wellens is very excited after signing his new four year contract. They were a little bit off the pace, but the week helped fast track them, just as it did the three Aussie guys."

Centre Paul Newlove's recuperation from a snapped Achilles is said to be progressing well although Saints are determined not to rush him back into action.

"We are happy with his progress, he is going really well. But when he returns I am not quite sure, it is a week to week proposition. But he has really advanced in the last five weeks. We don't want to rush him because he is pretty vital to us and it is a long season," said the Saints boss Millward.

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Darren Britt and Barry Ward, the ex-Canterbury Bulldogs props charged with the gargantuan task of filling the boots of fans' hero David Fairleigh, both like what they have seen of Saints so far. And they are determined to help the club grab some silverware again this season.

Britt said: "This club has had a lot of success - I watched a lot of their games on television last year. Us new fellas here want to be a part of helping the club reach those heights again. That is our main aim."

Meanwhile Ward said he and his family have experienced real kindness since they arrived a week last Friday. "My baby came down really crook during the week while I was in Spain, but Ian's wife and a few of the ladies upstairs took my wife in like a family member," said the stocky prop.

"To me that just shows a good positive side to the club. I hope to repay the club by playing really well. We have come over here to be successful - I want to win a Challenge Cup and Grand Final. Hopefully we can achieve that this year," Ward said.