Widnes aim to bounce back

James Ford (foot) remains sidelined for Widnes, who will aim to bounce back from defeat in last week’s Northern Rail Cup Final by claiming victory over Leigh.

Widnes coach Paul Cullen said: “We thoroughly deserved to lose that final. We got ourselves back in a position to win, and then conspired to lose it.”

Three points for the Vikings would keep them in the Co-operative Championship’s top six, regardless of how well Toulouse perform at Keighley.

Centurions are at full strength, with their only doubts over surrounding how many of their dual-registered players will be with the club this weekend.

Assistant coach Paul Rowley is hopeful that Matty Blythe and at least one other dual-registered player will be available, and has not ruled out all four representing Leigh on Sunday.

Rowley said: “It’s an important game for both clubs. We want second spot, and Widnes have got a really tough run in.

“They’ll be targeting this as a must-win game to help their play-off ambitions. It’s equally important for both clubs, albeit for different reasons.”

Rowley added: “We started the season strongly, but we’ve since had a bit of a sticky patch. Hopefully we’ve reached the end of that spell now.

“It’s now all about peaking and cranking things up for the play-offs.”