DENIS Betts hopes to call on a rejuvenated Widnes Vikings side after allowing his players some time off following a gruelling run, writes Alex Bysouth.

Vikings ended a gruelling sequence of five games in 20 days with a 22-8 defeat at Hull FC on Friday, with Betts then handing his troops three days away from the club.

They host Castleford on Sunday before a trip to St Helens five days later, and Betts admits the schedule has not been kind.

“We’ve had a bit of time off; they’ve had three days just to try and find a little bit of energy,” explained the Widnes head coach.

“The last two weeks it’s been non-stop, with travelling and being away from our families, so it was to give them recovery on their own.

“We were trying to freshen them up by not being in the club.”

He added: “It was two really tough away games. We played Salford on a three-day turnaround at their ground.

“Then we played Catalans three days after playing Warrington and had Hull away after being in France, and having to travel back without a training session.

“Our away form is not great, but I’d like a little bit of help and a seven-day turnaround would be nice for an away game.”

Betts hopes to have several injury doubts back in contention, including Stefan Marsh after a concussion.

“Paddy Flynn’s not been well,” he explained. “He’s not been not selected, he’s still waiting on a doctor’s report now to see if he’s back in training.

“Hopefully we’ll have another couple of players coming off the injury list. Willie Isa and Macgraff Leuluai should be available for selection.

“With Stef you’ve got to go through the protocol. He’s symptom-free at the moment but that has to be for five days – that five days will be Thursday.

“He has to see a neurosurgeon; it’s the second time he’s been knocked out in 12 months, and he’ll do that on Thursday.”

Betts expects two similar sides to meet on Sunday.

“They’ve been really good games, the tough thing about it is we’ve not been far away,” he added. “They were really tight games for 50-60 minutes and a little bit of composure gave them some opportunities.

“They’ve been really competitive games and I expect the same on Sunday. "I expect it to be a tough, physical encounter.," he said. with the way their pack plays and the way our pack’s playing now.

“"It will be who’s got the right attitude and composure to put points on the board at the right times.”