Preview: Hull v Wigan (Round 12)

The new-coach factor should be cancelled out when Wigan take on Hull at the KC Stadium on Sunday.

Australian Peter Sharp, Super League?s newest - and at 51 oldest - head coach, will be in charge of Hull for the first time while Brian Noble oversees his second match at the helm of bottom-of-the-table Wigan.

Noble?s appointment at the Warriors had an immediate effect, with last week?s impressive victory at Huddersfield, and Hull?s assistant coach Richard Agar admits his arrival has made his own side?s task all the harder.

?Obviously the introduction of Brian has given them straight away an added boost in enthusiasm and confidence and, after the win last week, we can expect a continuation of that,? he said.

?By the same token, we should get a boost ourselves because the players are performing live for the first time in front of their new coach.?

Wigan?s 46-14 win at the Galpharm Stadium ended their seven-match losing run Noble and victory on Sunday will lift them off the foot of the table.

But Noble warns his side will need to show further improvement if they are to halt Hull?s three-match winning run.

?Hull will be enthusiastic I have no doubt about that,? he said. ?One of our goals this weekend is that we match them in the enthusiasm stakes and if we do that we will be fine.

?It?s all about the performance for me and the points will come along. If you think about purely winning, it?s a recipe for disaster.

?Winning is a by product of preparing well and getting better week by week. Improvement will bring the results.?

Noble will give a debut to vastly-experienced centre Nathan McAvoy, who has joined the Warriors from Leeds.

?We have lost Brett Dallas so it?s handy we have Nathan to come in and hopefully next week against Castleford we may get another two or three bodies back,? he said.

Hull are without props Garreth Carvell and Scott Wheeldon and have doubts over scrum-half Richard Horne and centre Sid Domic but full-back Shaun Briscoe is set to return along with utility player Richard Whiting, while 18-year-old Tommy Lee is on standby.

?We?ve one or two players with question marks over their fitness but we?ve got some very talented kids ready to step in,? added Agar.

Hull FC v Wigan Warriors, KC Stadium, Sunday April 20 2006

Hull 18-man squad: Briscoe, Blacklock, Yeaman, Domic, R. Horne, Dowes, Swain, Radford, McMenemy, Cooke, Tony, King, Higgins, Brough, Thackray, Dixon, Washbrook, Lee.

Wigan 18-man squad: Ashton, Brown, Fletcher, Gleeson, Godwin, Goulding, Hargreaves, Higham, James, Jonkers, Moran, O'Loughlin, Orr, Paleaaesina, Seu Seu, Tickle, Wilkes, Richards.

Referee: R Silverwood