Championship Preview: Leigh Centurions v Barrow Raiders

Leigh Centurions coach Paul Rowley has hailed his side’s resilience as they prepare for a fourth grueling match in two weeks.

Centurions emerged 26-24 victors over Halifax on Wednesday, just five days after posing a huge challenge to Leeds Rhinos in the Tetley’s Challenge Cup.

Rowley said: “The resolve of our players is quite extraordinary. We took great pride out of Wednesday night, in that we’ve reached levels people may not have realised we can reach.”

On Sunday’s game against Barrow, Rowley added: “This is the true challenge. Barrow are the people that will truly benefit from this backlog of fixtures for us.

“Bobbie (Goulding) was at our game on Wednesday, and he’ll be looking forward to tasking his side with being the first to defeat us in the league.

“Our training is matches at the minute. We’re a very resilient bunch and nobody’s looking battered and bruised, they’re all bouncing around.”

Centurions will be without Sam Barlow, who was taken to hospital after Wednesday’s game with severe concussion.

Barrow coach Bobbie Goulding is aiming to steer his side to a shock victory seven days after they lost at home to Doncaster. New signing Ben Musolino, who played in Italy’s win over England last year, could feature.