Vikings at full strength against Eagles

Widnes Vikings coach Denis Betts expects to be picking from a near full strength squad for Sunday’s Co-operative Championship fixture with Sheffield Eagles.

Betts said: “That’s the benefit of having a week off, but the downside is that you can lose your momentum.”

The Vikings are just five points ahead of resurgent Halifax and are desperate to hang on to their play-off berth.

Betts added: “We’re aware of our situation, and we know our home games are vital to us. Taking points off teams above us is going to help us climb the table, but we can only be concerned about what we’re doing – we can’t alter what Halifax are doing.”

On Sheffield, Betts said: “I think they’re the form side in the competition. They’ve really kicked on recently.

“They’re strong up front, they build a good platform and then they’ve got that little bit of something extra on the edges.

“Guys like Menzie Yere, Misi Taulapapa and Quentin Laulu-Togagae can all do something out of the blue, and Mark Aston has a habit of finding these guys.

“They’re a solid, well organised team that’s a credit to the club and to Mark.”

Eagles coach Aston is keeping his fingers crossed that the bulk of his dual-registration signings – Huddersfield pair Kyle Wood and Jamie Cording, and Bradford duo Vinny Finigan and Jason Crookes – will be available for the trip to the Stobart Stadium.

But Pat Smith and Sam Scott will now be unavailable for a number of weeks after departing on the Great Britain Students’ tour of Australia.