Preview: Halifax v Leigh

Halifax coach Matt Calland is demanding a massive improvement from his side after they crashed out of the Northern Rail Cup with a surprise defeat against Hunslet last Sunday.

Calland said: “We’ve got a lot of work to do and there is going to be a lot of changes.

“A lot of our players didn’t want to know and that’s very disappointing.

“We played as individuals and you can’t do that in a team sport. We’ve got a massive game coming up against Leigh.”

Centurions are expecting to be boosted by the return of dual-registered Lee Mitchell, who was 18th man for Warrington last week.

Assistant coach Paul Rowley said: “Halifax will have been disappointed last week and they’ll be eagerly awaiting this game.

“It’s going to be a measure of where both teams are, although they’ll be more nervous approaching the game than we will. We’re perhaps a bit of an unknown quantity to them whereas they’ve shown their cards over the last two years.”

Leigh emerged 44-12 victors over Whitehaven last week, a display that pleased Rowley.

He said: “We knew it was going to be a tough, physical challenge and we were coming off the back of two games against struggling sides, so to come out of our game against Whitehaven with a convincing scoreline was very pleasing.

“Our defence is proving the cornerstone of what we’re doing. We’ve got one of the best defences in the league at the moment and that’s something we want to keep going.”