Super League: Catalan Dragons v London Broncos preview
Last Updated: 30/08/14 4:38pm
Catalan Dragons will be looking to get their Super League campaign back on track against the London Broncos on Saturday following a dip in form.
The French club have lost three straight in the league since beating Wakefield, meaning the Dragons are just two points above ninth-placed Hull KR in the race for playoff positions.
London have been relegated for some time, however, they overcame Leeds in their last encounter prior to the Rhinos beating Castleford Tigers in the Challenge Cup final - their first victory of the season.
Dragons head coach Laurent Frayssinous made two changes to his 19-man squad for this game against the Broncos.
Playmaker Leon Pryce and experienced forward Jeff Lima drop out of the squad. Catalan earlier in the week intimated Pryce would no longer be used as he had signed for Hull FC next season.
Lopini Paea, who has recovered from injury and Antoni Maria have been called back by the staff and are set to make their return.
Tough
"It will be tough, especially after their win against Leeds," Frayssinous said. "They will be emotionally on a high and we need to be ready for that.
"We have played them three times this season and we haven't been consistent in the 80 minutes in any of them. We keep letting them back in the game and at the Magic Weekend in Manchester they performed better than us.
"We had six days off between the Cup semi-finals and the Salford game to be ready for the end of the season and for the last 10 days we've worked pretty hard, especially on defence which is an area we need to improve."
Broncos head coach Joe Grima has made two changes to the squad which beat Leeds for their match in Perpignan.
On-loan Alex Foster, who missed the win over the Rhinos, replaces Toby Everett while James Woodburn-Hall comes in for Denny Solomona.
The Broncos will be looking for their first win over the French side this season having lost league games at The Hive and the Magic Weekend plus the Tetley’s Challenge Cup defeat in Perpignan earlier this season.
Catalan Dragons: Escare, Pomeroy, Oldfield, Bosc, Elima, Henderson, Taia, Anderson, Mounis, Maria, Whitehead, Millard, Bousquet, Paea, Baitieri, Duport, Garcia, Williams, Pelissier.
London Broncos: Atkins, Cook, Dixon, Dollapi, Drinkwater, Farrar, Foster, Griffin, Keyes, Krasniqi, Mataitonga, McMeeken, Minns, Moore, Slyney, Thomas, Vea, Wallace, Woodburn-Hall.
Don’t miss any of the action from Perpignan as Catalan Dragons take on the London Broncos live on Sky Sports 4 via the red button on Saturday August 30 from 5pm