WIRE boss Tony Smith includes Tom Lineham in his 19-man versus Salford explaining he has been impressed with the improvements the winger has made to his game.

The 24-year-old moved to The Halliwell Jones Stadium from Hull FC during the off-season after scoring 25 tries last term.

However, despite a return of 11 tries so far, the winger has spent two spells away from the first team this season.

He scored two tries for the reserves in their game two weeks ago and featured for partner club Rochdale Hornets at the weekend and Smith is pleased with what he has seen.

“We needed improvements in his involvements and a bit more quality in his work which he’s been able to do in the reserve grade game last week and at Rochdale over the weekend,” he said.

“He’s added a bit of quality to his carries and decision-making.

“Some of it is just concentration with Tommy. When he concentrates he does a good job but when he drifts off, sometimes he can come up with an error or not enough impact on the match.

“He’s gone away to work on that and he’s done it pretty well.”

Smith also thinks the short gap between games could be beneficial for his side, with this week’s clash with Salford Red Devils coming less than a week after the 16-16 draw with Hull KR.

“The players have been good this week in terms of it being a short turnaround,” he said.

“We’ve got over some bumps and bruises as well as the disappointment of only getting a point out of Hull KR.

“It’s given us a chance to get back on the park quickly, it’s been building up and we’ve been very sharp so I’m looking forward to a really good performance.”