Josh Dugan will miss St George Illawarra’s clash with the Wests Tigers after failing to recover from an ankle injury.

It was feared the NSW star would be out for up to three months after suffering syndesmosis in last week’s round one loss to Melbourne, but those concerns were eased after scans revealed the damage was not as severe as first thought.

Dugan was named in the Dragons side on Tuesday but was ruled out of contention on Sunday, with Peter Mata’utia to play at fullback on Monday in the battle of the joint ventures at Campbelltown Stadium.