WASPS Head Coach Lee Blackett is confident his side’s clash with Sale Sharks this weekend will go ahead as planned.
Sale had their game against Newcastle Falcons called off last week after a Covid-19 outbreak within the Sharks squad.
However, Blackett insists the game will take place as scheduled with Wasps coming into the clash off the back of a much-needed win against London Irish.
And Blackett is expecting a difficult match in Salford despite sitting three places above Sale in the Gallagher Premiership table.
Blackett said: “I think Sale are fine now, this game is comfortably going to go ahead, it was unfortunate they had to call the game off [against Newcastle].
“We’re of the opinion that this game is 100 per cent going ahead and it’s not going to have really affected them.
“We’re in a good place, it’s a difficult place to go, they’re really good on their home patch, you’ve just got to find a way of winning.
“They’ve always had a good defence, they’ve got individual threats at the breakdown, they’ve got ball carriers throughout and the halves run the show really well.”
Wasps victory against the Exiles was their first in six matches in all competitions and Blackett was pleased with his side’s attacking display at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Blackett added: “There’s things we could have done a lot better but it was good to come away with the points.
“There was more intensity in us since the Premiership Cup games, we were going really well before that, since then we’ve been slightly off.
“To get our third try bonus point on the bounce in the Premiership was really good and our green zone conversions were really good.
“We took our opportunities, we made a couple of errors early on, but then we took control, definitely in terms of our conversion rate once we got down into the opposition 22.
“We made less turnovers than we’ve made for a long time, on the flip side, we conceded 30 points and we can’t keep doing that.”
However, despite ending their losing run, Wasps lost Jacob Umaga to a red card for a shoulder charge late on and Blackett is in no doubt that it was the right decision.
He said: “In the modern day game it’s a red card – we’ll be admitting guilt at the hearing and take the consequences.
“It’s for everyone’s safety that these laws changed a few years ago and they’re getting stricter for that type of tackle.
“It’s difficult for the players, you don’t realise how fast they’re moving, but the players know it’s for their own safety.
“We know the consequences are hard but we’re constantly working on dipping our height.”
Wasps travel to Sale on New Year’s Day with kick-off at 2pm at the AJ Bell Stadium.
