Salford Red Devils will be hoping to deliver some good news on the pitch when they take on Warrington Wolves at the Haliwell Jones stadium tonight, kick off 8pm.
The Devils preparations have been marred by negative stories off the pitch in the past few weeks.
Salford were charged with breaching salary cap regulations in March and found out today they had failed to overturn a six-point penalty and £5,000 fine.
It gives Ian Watson’s men a Herculean task to get into the Super 8’s stage.
They currently sit five points off eighth placed Castleford Tigers despite beating the Yorkshire outfit 22-18 at home last Friday.
The local side will have to win their remaining three games against Wire, Widnes and league leaders Hull FC and hope either Wakefield, Castleford or The Vikings lose their remaining three games.
Meanwhile Warrington, who still have a chance of finishing the first phase at the top of the table, and could move within one point of joint top Hull and Wigan Warriors should they beat Salford tonight.
Tonight’s host however have a clear advantage in terms of recent meetings; Warrington have won against Salford in their last eight meetings in a run that stretches back to before the Marwan Koukash era.
Their most recent encounter was a narrow 31-30 defeat for Salford though, with both teams looking to play out a draw before Chris Sandow’s long range drop goal on the Hooter gave Warrington the win back in March.
Key to Warrington’s success this year has been the reemergence of hooker Daryl Clark, who has firmly put the woes of a disappointing first season behind him.
The former England international has notched up five tries and four man of the match awards in 18 appearances, returning close to the sort of form that won him the Man of Steel award at Cas in 2014.
Salford meanwhile will be hoping to see a repeat of Gareth O’Brien’s scintillating game in their win against The Tigers last Friday.
The scrum half picked up a try and five goals in that game, two of which were critical penalty kicks that secured a hard fought win
As for the teams, Warrington have recalled Ashton Sims and Ryan Atkins who were suspended after last week’s draw against Hull KR; winger Tom Lineham also recalled to the side.
Mason Caton-Brown and Ryan Lannon return for Salford, replacing Josh Griffin and Phil Joseph.
Main image: © Steve Mc Pix 2016
