Sunday 28 June 2015 15:27, UK
St Helens coach Keiron Cunningham has warned his players to ignore Widnes' current form when they do battle in the last Ladbrokes Challenge Cup quarter-final on Sunday.
The Vikings have lost their last three Super League matches to slip into the bottom four and also lost twice to the champions earlier in the year.
But Cunningham says his team were flattered by the victory margins in their meetings so far and believes Denis Betts' men will provide a stern test at Langtree Park.
"Every time they play against us they play well," Cunningham said. "You have got to bear in mind it is a local derby match. History tells you they are always good games.
"We have beaten them twice this year but they have been close. It is going to be one hell of a game on Sunday.
"We are going to prepare for the best Widnes team we can face. If Kevin Brown plays well, then Widnes generally play well, and he has been in really good form lately.
"They are going to give it everything and we are going to give it everything. That is generally what happens in these games. Saints-Widnes games are always good spectacles."
St Helens have won their last six Challenge Cup meetings with Widnes, whose last victory over them was in the 1930 final, which was the first of seven Wembley triumphs for the one-time cup kings.
However, only two points separated the teams in their last meeting, a round-four tie in 2012, and Vikings captain Kevin Brown says his side are keen to at least repeat their efforts of last season, when they reached the semi-finals.
Brown said: "This week is massive for us for a number of reasons. We not only want to get back to winning ways and give the fans something to cheer about but we know that there is a massive reward in the form of a semi-final place up for grabs.
"Last year's Challenge Cup run was special. We got to our first semi-final since we've come back into Super League and we're hoping that our experience of playing the big games will help us to get a crucial result this weekend.
"Playing for Widnes Vikings in the Challenge Cup is very special for all of the players and coaches at the club. There is so much club history linked to the competition and we are all very much aware of the Challenge Cup success that have gone before us. Hopefully this year we can go and make some history of our own."
Widnes are boosted by the return of Australian loose forward Hep Cahill, who has been out for more than three months with a shoulder injury while Cunningham has a problem to resolve over the injury-jinxed full-back spot.
St Helens are scouring Australia for a replacement for Shannon McDonnell and are thought to have lined up a move for Parramatta's Adam Quinlan.
McDonnell, who was brought back from Down Under to fill the void created by the loss of Jonny Lomax, Lance Hohaia and Paul Wellens, sustained a season-ending snapped Achilles tendon in last week's defeat at Castleford.
With the versatile Tom Makinson also sidelined through injury, Cunningham will plug the gap in the short term from within, with threequarter Matty Fleming set to make a sixth senior appearance somewhere among the outside backs.
"We are light in the outside backs but we have got some good juniors," Cunningham said. "I have just got to find someone to play full-back.
"I have got a lot of talented people in those outside backs who have played full-back at junior level so there is no adversity, it is not backs to the wall.
"We have got a couple of options which we will look at. We will see what works best and then shoot with them. We are comfortable with what we are thinking."
