ESL Round 15
Preview - Monday Game

Harrison excited by Warriors clash

Salford City Reds must overcome the Millward factor if they are to halt their losing run at Wigan?s expense in Monday?s engage Super League clash at the Willows.

The Reds have lost their last four matches, including a Challenge Cup-tie with London Broncos, to undo much of the promising work in the early part of the season.

Wigan, too, are in a slump, having won just one of their last six League games, but the arrival of Ian Millward is expected to act as a rejuvenating factor in the way St Helens experienced a lift following the arrival of their new coach.

?It?s always a great occasion when you play Wigan,? said Salford coach Karl Harrison.

?It?s a great club and great organisation with quality players right across the board.

?Obviously the appointment of Ian Millward adds a little extra spice to the occasion but it?s one we?re looking forward to.

?There is the new coach syndrome, where players do want to impress, but we?ve been on a poor run recently and some my players need to impress me.?

Millward, who became the seventh coach to cross the great divide between Wigan and St Helens, took up a three-and-a-year contract last Monday as successor to Denis Betts, who is now his assistant.

He is grateful that a Bank Holiday fixture has given him more time to prepare the side and is confident of his ability to turn around the club?s fortunes.

?I am really excited,? he said. ?I have had longer to work with the players leading up to the game than would normally be the case and that has been beneficial to me.

?Obviously confidence is low here at present because of the current run of form but that is down to too many experienced players leaving the club over the last 12 months.

?We?re at the halfway point and we need to look at what we need to do to get in the six.?

Millward has already identified a chronic lack of consistency as a key factor behind the team?s disastrous run, highlighting the way they let slip an 18-0 lead against Huddersfield in their last match.

?Last Friday night they played the first half very well but second half not as well,? he said.

?If we get consistency, we will get wins and hopefully move up the ladder.

?We need to take one step at a time. I?m sure long-term we?ll be right. We need to be a little bit patient at the moment. The amount of senior players lost from last year?s squad had a huge effect.?

Despite their recent dismal run, Salford still have the second-best defensive record in Super League but only bottom club Leigh have scored fewer points.

?We?re still playing okay,? said Harrison. ?There is no panic in the camp. I was disappointed with our performance against Bradford but I thought we dominated the game against London last week but they scored the tries.

?We?ve got to work on our cutting edge. I?m quite convinced we?ll give a good account of ourselves.?

Salford City Reds v Wigan Warriors, The Willows, Monday May 30 2005

Salford 20-man squad: Hodgson, Stewart, Littler, McAvoy, Hartley, Beverley, Robinson, Rutgerson, Alker, Stringer, Coley, Shipway, Charles, Jonkers, Haggerty, Dickens, Highton, Langi, Baldwin, Clough.

Wigan 18-man squad: Radlinski, Dallas, Aspinwall, Wild, Carney, Brown, Moran, Seu Seu, Newton, Sculthorpe, Guisset, Hansen, Tickle, Godwin, Hargreaves, Tomkins, Gleeson, Coyle.

Referee: R Silverwood

- - - - -

Thanks to http://www.superleague.co.uk/ for more great articles.