Preview: Whitehaven v Halifax

Richard Farrer (badly bruised leg), David Ford (swollen spleen), Scott George (work accident) and Scott McAvoy (broken jaw) are all missing for Whitehaven.

Coach Ged Stokes is looking for an instant response to last week’s shock Carnegie Challenge Cup defeat against Blackpool.

He said: “It was disappointing. We dominated the first half but were non-existent in the second half.”

He added: “Having only had three home games out of nine so far, we now start a run of home and away games and hopefully that reduced travel load will do us good.

“We’re in the results business, and we’ve got to get some, although Halifax have struck up some form having gone through a dodgy period themselves.

“They’ll be confident, but it’s always been a tussle between these sides since I’ve been here. If we can put a few things together then hopefully we can put some pressure on them.”

Halifax coach Matt Calland will monitor Luke Branighan’s fitness but the Australian stand-off is expected to play on Sunday.

Calland’s side eased past Swinton in last week’s Carnegie Challenge Cup with a performance that pleased the Halifax coach.

He said: “We played some good stuff and showed some really good signs that we are coming back into some form.

“It was the best we have played this season so far.”