COULD the door be open for Josh Charnley to fly to Great Britain’s rescue?

With Ryan Hall dislocating his kneecap during the 12-8 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland, it leaves Wayne Bennett with one fit winger in his squad.

Oliver Gildart is also ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a dislocated shoulder, leaving the Lions desperately short of outside backs.

Charnley was included in England’s latest Elite Performance Squad but was not picked in the Great Britain squad, while St Helens flyer Regan Grace While Bennett did not appear to rule out calling up a replacement, he does not know if it is even an option for him.

Asked whether Hall would be fit for next week’s second Test against the Kiwis in Christchurch, Bennett said: “I doubt it if his knee’s come out.

“He dislocated his knee, like he did earlier in the season. It’s gone back in but he said it did come out.

“I don’t even know if we can bring somebody else in. I don’t think we can but I’m not sure.”

Should the need arise for one of Bennett’s second rowers to cover in the centres, the chances of Wire co-captain Jack Hughes getting his shot next week would improve.

All of Great Britain’s points in Auckland came from Warrington players, with Daryl Clark scoring a try and Gareth Widdop kicking two goals.

Clark came off the bench during the second half and Bennett was impressed with his display and that of fellow Lions debutant Joe Philbin.

“I liked Joe’s effort,” he said.

“Clark’s always been good when he’s had the opportunity and he was good for the 25 minutes he was on “I didn’t put Daryl Clark on the bench just to sit him for 80 minutes.

“Josh (Hodgson) was good but Daryl adds a bit of something to the team. I don’t think we lost anything when Daryl came on.

“It was a close game and the difference was probably a little bit of luck. There was nothing in it all afternoon.

“We should have had two tries in the last five minutes but we didn’t get them.

“The first half was a pretty dismal game of football. Completions were high but there was just nothing happening.

“We sorted a few things out at half time and we stuck to it in the second half.

“We were sticking to it in the first half but our halves could have been on the ball a lot more.

“We got that right in the second half – we had a lot more ball movement and we gave ourselves a chance.”