Northern Rail Cup Final: HKR v Leigh

Hull KR v Leigh Centurions

Hull KR travel to Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on Sunday to defend the Cup they won last season and this campaign?s 100 per cent record.

The match has an added edge because it was the Centurions who denied Rovers the Northern Rail Cup two years ago.

Rovers coach Justin Morgan said: ?It?s a big match. It?s the first trophy of the season and we are determined to enjoy our day, just as we did last season.

?It?s been business as usual this week. I tell the players they need to prepare properly for each game so the only real difference this week is that we will train on Bloomfield Road on Saturday.

?We are proud of our 100 per cent record and want to keep that going but we know that Leigh are one of our main rivals in the league as well as the cup and both sides will be looking to get an edge on the other.?

Rovers welcome back Michael Smith, and Francis Stephenson, who made his comeback last weekend against Halifax, is expected to start. The main doubt is halfback James Webster who injured a hamstring against Halifax but Morgan said: ?If anyone can recover in seven days it?s him, he has special recovery powers. We will give him right up to Saturday because he is such a key part of our team.?

Centurions will start as underdogs but coach Tony Benson sees plenty of positives going into the match.

He said: ?Rovers are a very good side and they have shown that against engage Super League teams. They gave it to us earlier in the season so we?ve got something to prove.

?But we started this campaign at Blackpool and our defence was very tight back then and in recent games I have seen us getting back to that after a spell when we suffered some injuries.

?I don?t think they have been put under too much pressure this season so it is up to us to defend well and then put them under pressure when we attack and see where that takes us. Everybody has got to be on his game then we can certainly test them.?

Leigh have no serious injury worries and will welcome back Ricky Bibey after suspension.