Widnes Vikings face Leigh Centurions on Monday in the Challenge Cup fourth round at the Leigh Sports Village Stadium.
The Vikings previously met the Centurions in the semi-final of the 1895 Cup in 2019, which turned out to be a feisty encounter.
Widnes fought hard and secured victory which sent them to the cup final at Wembley.
This season, Simon Finnigan’s side are unbeaten in the Championship after four games.
Finnigan praised his team after an impressive 36-10 victory at Dewsbury last Monday.
He said: “We go again on Monday in a huge game against Leigh.
“They’re a good side, a full-time team and they’re playing well.
“I went to watch them yesterday and they’re a clinical team with some classy players.
“It’s going to be a tough game, but we’ll go there confident.”
Team changes
Joe Lyons was selected in place of the injured Danny Craven against Dewsbury Rams.
He controlled the play well and linked up with Lloyd Roby and Matty Smith to produce some good attacking moves.
Roby, who scored two, replaced first choice fullback Jack Owens who is likely to return from a knee injury in the coming weeks.
Lyons may keep his place in the starting line-up as Craven remains out.
He picked up a hamstring injury in the game against Halifax and could be out for up to six weeks.
Ryan Ince will miss next week’s game after failing a head injury assessment during the Dewsbury game.
Strengthening the squad for this season however is Eribe Doro, who extended his loan from Warrington Wolves until the end of the season with no call-back option.
Doro was at the centre of success during the Vikings’ last outing and Finnigan added that he is a big signing.
“He set the tone for the second half, and we played off the back of that.
“I enjoy watching him play and the lads love him.
“The kid can get settled now that he’s with us all the time.”
Leigh have won three of their four league games and have only lost to Featherstone Rovers who are joint top of the Betfred Championship on points with Widnes.
The Centurions will be a good challenge for the Vikings despite losing their key halfback Ryan Brierley to Salford Red Devils this season.
(Feature image provided under creative commons license by Viking John @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
