YORK Wasps prop Andy Hutchinson is "gutted" to be out of action until after Christmas. The Evening Press player-of-the-year will miss tomorrow's trip to Barrow (kick-off 2pm) and next Sunday's visit of Batley after suffering concussion in Sunday's defeat to Whitehaven.

"I'm feeling fine but I have to miss the next two games for medical reasons under RFL rules," he told the Evening Press.

"I'm gutted. After all the training we've been doing, to miss the next two games is a bit heart-breaking."

The severity of the knock did not show up until after the game - the 27-year-old carried on playing but was later forced to spend the night in Hull Royal Infirmary as a precaution.

"I took a big hit at the beginning of the second half and that's all I can remember," he said.

"I can't remember receiving treatment but I must have felt okay at the time because I carried on playing. I was in a short-stay ward in hospital under observation as I was still a bit groggy.

"Hopefully I will be back for the Hunslet game on Boxing Day, if I'm selected."

While Hutchinson misses out, Wasps captain Peter Edwards has been cleared to play despite also suffering concussion on Sunday - although the ex-Kiwi Internationa himself will decide whether he will feature at Craven Park.

As reported in the Evening Press, the hooker received only mild concussion, which does not lead to a mandatory lay-off.

But boss Leo Epifania explained: "It will be up to him to say whether he's feeling okay to play.

"He was fine after the knock and came good straight away. It was momentary concussion and maybe not as bad as it seemed. He trained this week and was fine."

Epifania is definitely making at least three changes, with Mike Grady coming in at full-back and Gavin Molloy switching to the wing, probably in place of Matt Mulholland. Michael Docherty will start in place of Hutchinson, while Rob Lee, signed from amateurs York Acorn, could come in at loose-forward.

"Nobody is dropped," stressed Epifania. "I would not usually drop a player after one game anyway. I'm just trying a few players out to have a look at things."

He added: "I'm hoping it will be a tough battle for Barrow and we're looking to improve on last week."

Barrow's coach, Cameron Bell, was glad his team had the chance to bounce back from last week's 30-12 loss at Leigh with York's visit.

"York might be in a similar sort of situation to us," said the Kiwi, who welcomes back scrum-half Darren Holt.

"York's coach thinks they can only get better and we too can only get better.

"Every team will have a one-off game where everything goes against you and maybe York had that game last week."

He added: "We can't be too concerned about the opposition, though I would say we'd rather be playing York than Huddersfield. That would have been a terribly difficult start for us.

"Even if York players had Superman capes on we would rather be playing them than Huddersfield."

Updated: 10:11 Saturday, December 08, 2001