Leigh may have sold 6,000 tickets for tomorrow’s match against Salford, but a legal spat over Gareth Hock still threatens to overshadow the game.
The tie sees in-form Salford battle Paul Rowley’s Championship side for a place in the sixth round of the Challenge Cup.
The sides last met in the Challenge Cup in 2001 when Paul Terzis’s Leigh beat Salford 16-12 in a fourth round tie at Hilton Park.
But while it seemed Salford were ready to insist that Hock didn’t play in the cup tie, Leigh have made Hock available for tomorrow’s game.
When Marwan Koukash let the second-rower go in February, we said Hock should not be able to face his old club until 2016.
31-year-old Hock was in the middle of a six-match ban for malicious use of the knees on two St Helens players when he left Salford under a cloud for Leigh in February.
His 2014 season also came to an abrupt end when he was on the receiving end of a seven-match ban for pushing over referee Matt Thomason.
Since his return from a drugs ban in 2011 Hock has found himself banned for 25 matches in total.
In a club statement Leigh said: “Leigh and Gareth have sought legal advice and on the basis of that advice consider that Gareth will be available for selection.”
In other news, Wayne Godwin has been drafted in from Dewsbury Rams on a four-week loan.
Head coach Iestyn Harris said: “There is certainly real interest in this game.”
“Leigh have earned the right to be respected after seventeen consecutive Championship wins.
“They have good players and they are full time, so we shall have to prepare as we would for a Super League opposition, to be at our best. We need to go through our processes and to expect a tough game.”
Leigh have named their squad as: McNally; Worthington; Armstrong; Kay; Ridyard; Brierley; Beswick; Wilkes; Goulden; Barlow; Pownall; Platt; Spencer; Hopkins; Dixon; Aspinwall; Hock; Foster; Emmitt.
