ST HELENS are hopeful of a much more convincing win tonight when they face bottom side Celtic Crusaders at the GPW Recruitment Stadium.
Saints won just 4-0 when the sides met at Bridgend in March and the Crusaders have since claimed two notable scalps in beating Bradford and Wigan.
“Celtic are a concern for us because they play a lot of rugby,” said Saints coach Mick Potter.
“They don’t just tuck it under their arm and run forward, they play expansively and really test you out round the edges.
“They have beaten Bradford and Wigan. It was going to come at some stage, a win.
“I suggested that when we were down there.
“We have got to be on our guard, make sure we do everything right and not worry so much about them.”
Elsewhere, a Salford side missing scrum-half Richie Myler host Huddersfield.
Rising star Myler, 19, has been the subject of much speculation this week after reportedly turning down the offer of a new contract.
The City Reds must make do without him, due to a heel injury, as they aim to bounce back from last week’s narrow loss at Hull.
Coach Shaun McRae said: “He’s been there all season, so yes we’ll miss him.
“But we have other experienced players to play in that position and they’ll handle it okay.
“We were a bit unlucky last week, I thought we should have won the game.
“We needed a few things to go for us and that didn’t happen.
“We’ve tried well this week and hopefully we can put right some of the things that went wrong.”
Bradford coach Steve McNamara insists clashes with Leeds have lost none of their lustre as the Bulls target another shock derby win.
Encounters between the fierce West Yorkshire rivals are usually among the highlights of any engage Super League season.
Unusually, the latest match-up between the clubs at Headingley Carnegie has not been chosen for TV coverage with the cameras heading to games at Castleford and Hull KR this weekend. Bradford have won just six of their 16 games this season and trail champions Leeds by 11 points but, after their surprise 10-6 defeat of the Rhinos in April, the fixture excites McNamara.
He said: “I think it is still a massive game for everyone involved, irrespective of league positions.”
