Wigan determined to end derby misery at hands of St Helens

The Warriors have lost their last five matches against their arch rivals going back to their last success in August 2018, a run that includes a 42-0 thrashing of a virtual reserve team a month ago.

“It’s something we’ve talked about all week,” Lam said. “It hasn’t been ideal but we’ve probably got the strongest squad that we’ve had for a long time.

“Going there is a great challenge for us and I think we’re due. We want to play in these big games, it’s a massive arch rival of ours.

“The supporters show their true colours in these situations and they can’t be there so we need to give a good performance for them.

“Most importantly we need to keep our season on track. We’ve a chance of going to the top of the table after this win so it’s important that we do everything right.”

Wigan have played only two league games since their last meeting with Saints but have won them both to stay in touch with the leaders.

And second-rower Liam Farrell says his team are motivated by the prospect of beating their rivals to the League Leaders’ Shield.

“Probably more this year with how the league has been restructured and on percentage at the moment,” Farrell said.

“We’ve got a really good crack at it to go top and I think the lads are really keen for it and eager to get a result.

“The way we’re playing at the moment we’re more than capable of getting a good win and it would be a great time to get that top spot because it would be ours to lose if we did.

“Last weekend was probably the best 80 minutes we’ve put together and this is a real test for us and it’s come at the right time. Saints have been great since the restart and hopefully we can test them with a few different things.”

Farrell also says the players have been made aware of their club’s woeful recent record against Saints.

“I was reminded about that and it’s quite a shocking fact really,” he said.

“I’ve been on runs where we’ve had four, five, six games where we’ve not lost to Saints and it seems like the shoe’s on the other foot at the moment and they’ve got the upper hand on us.

“I think it’s about time we tried to get one back on them.”

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