Preview: Wakefield v Leeds (R25)

Wakefield coach John Kear will not be fooled by talk of a crisis at Leeds when the Rhinos visit Belle Vue for a crucial engage Super League clash on Friday.

The Wildcats, yet to lose under Kear, are hoping to claim a third successive win for the first time since last July on what could be a pivotal night in the intriguing battle to avoid the drop, with all four relegation-threatened teams in action.

Leeds, too, are badly in need of the points after losing their last five matches in the knowledge that another defeat would herald their worst run for 48 years and further damage their title credentials.

"They are obviously missing Danny McGuire and they are down on a bit of confidence but that isn't going to lull me into any false sense of security," said Kear.

"If you look at the games they played - they lost by one point at Cas, by four to St Helens and by two to Wigan - in all of those they didn't perform that badly.

"They could just have easily have won and, if they had won there would be no talk of what is going wrong at Leeds.

"We're just not buying into it. We're playing a very good rugby league team and we'll have to be at our very best to give ourselves a chance of winning."

Kear, still without the services of suspended captain Monty Betham, has named an unchanged team while Leeds coach Tony Smith recalls former Wakefield favourite Willie Poching, who has not lost at Belle Vue since leaving the club four years ago.

The Rhinos, who briefly topped the table six weeks ago, are now hoping to finish third at best after enduring their worst run for a decade.

"We are hurting a lot at the moment," admitted Smith. "We are a very proud organisation and a run of five defeats hurts a great deal.

"The only way for us to get out of this run of defeats is to continue to work hard and we are all determined to make sure that we finish the season in better form ahead of the play-offs."

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 20-man squad: Halpenny, Demetriou, Tadulala, Jeffries, Obst, Griffin, March, Korkidas, Solomona, Rooney, MacGillivray, Elima, Henderson, Saxton, Atkins, Watene, Greseque, Evans.

Leeds Rhinos 20-man squad: Donald, Walker, Senior, Burrow, Bailey, Diskin, Peacock, Lauitiiti, Ellis, Sinfield, Millard, Poching, Jones-Buchanan, Gibson, Kirke, Tansey, Thackray, Toopi.

Referee: P Bentham

Source: superleague.co.uk