By Paul Sculthorpe St Helens star and BBC Sport Online columnist

St Helens are suffering with a few injuries at the moment.

I wouldn't call it a crisis but we haven't got any props, which means a few players being forced to play in unfamiliar positions.

I hope the situation won't cost us another Super League title.

We haven't got a massive squad, so any time we lose a few players we feel it more than most.

But the signs are we will be back to somewhere near full strength in the next couple of weeks.

Sean Long will be sidelined for a lot longer but I'm hoping it won't be the three months that was initially forecast.

His hand was giving him a lot of pain but he could have played on if required.

The club felt it was best to get him operated on now so that he is back for the big games at the end of the season.

It is a wise decision, even though we will miss him in the meantime.

Sean's injury and the fact that several other players are struggling just shows you what a mockery the Rugby Football League's investigation is.

Saints are accused of fielding an under-strength side in the Super League game against Bradford the week before the Challenge Cup final.

But the situation we are now faced with prove that our coach, Ian Millward, was simply protecting our players.

Some of the RFL's officials should play a Super League game sometime and see how tough it really is.