Henderson: Eagles are confident

Sheffield hooker Andrew Henderson says his side are full of confidence ahead of their Tetley’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against London on Friday night.

The Eagles are no strangers to wrecking reputations in rugby league’s oldest and most prestigious knockout competition, but Henderson insists they will put their faith in present form rather than past glories.

The club, which famously sprang the biggest shock in cup history with their Wembley win against Wigan in 1998, go into the tie in strong form and with an insatiable appetite for success.

Henderson said, “The boys are focused and determined, we know what we have to do.

“At the end of the day it’s a cup competition and anyone can win. We have been in fantastic form this season so our confidence is naturally high. Even though we haven’t played our best in every match we have always found a way to win.

“We believe we can put in a good performance, we know it will have to be our best performance of the season so far to beat London but there’s no reason why we can’t achieve that.

“We have a really strong squad at the Eagles and every player has bought into the ambitions we set out at the start of the season.

“We know London will be targeting this game as a must win and that we are the underdogs, nobody really expects us to win but we have nothing to lose and therefore no pressure on us.

“It’s a great opportunity for rugby league fans across Yorkshire to come and support a Championship club against Super League opposition in the famous Tetley’s Challenge Cup.

“We are hoping to attract a lot of new supporters too, Sheffield is known as being a big sporting city and exciting games like this will only help generate new interest and attract new fans.

“For us to beat the Broncos would be massive for the club, they experienced the glory back in 1998 and it would be great for the club to get through to the semi-finals.”

Kick-off at the Don Valley Stadium on Friday night is 8.00 pm.