Warriors and Wolves hungry for
points

Wigan and Warrington meet at the JJB Stadium on Friday night desperate for points, having found themselves in the wrong half of the table after the first four rounds.

While the Wolves have shown a gradual improvement since their opening-round defeat by Salford, Wigan are fresh from a crushing 28-10 defeat at Salford - a result coach Ian Millward is confident was a one-off.

?I?m disappointed that we?ve not got more than one win,? he said.

?But if you look at the three games we lost the only one that has really upset me was the poor performance at Salford.

?I?d like to think it was a minor setback; I?m very confident that it was.

?We?ve made some mistakes but we?re working hard to rectify them, and I think people will see how hard we?ve been working on Friday night.

?I know where we?re going. Nothing has been lost, but we have a lot to gain. Twenty-four games is a lot of games.?

Millward is boosted by the return of his captain Sean O?Loughlin and he will make a late decision on whether to play Australian Test forward Bryan Fletcher or give him another run-out with the Under-21s as he continues his rehabilitation from major stomach surgery.

Warrington coach Paul Cullen, with virtually a full-strength pack to choose from, has dropped prop Danny Lima after a run of 50 successive appearances.

?Rob Parker?s recovery from injury gives me the opportunity to rotate the pack,? said Cullen, who is delighted with his side?s improved form.

?We have improved with every outing since round one. Unfortunately we came up against the best side in the competition last week - and we were one score off them.

?It is a mark of our progress that we were very disappointed we didn?t win. The mood in the camp is positive.?

Wigan Warriors v Warrington Wolves, JJB Stadium, Friday March 10 2006

Wigan 18-man squad: Ashton, Brown, Calderwood, Dallas, Godwin, Hargreaves, Hansen, Higham, Paleaaesina, Logan, Moran, O'Loughlin, Orr, Prescott, Richards, Seu Seu, Tickle, Vaealiki.


Warrington 18-man squad: Grose, Fa'afili, M. Gleeson, Kohe-Love, Briers, Sullivan, Leikvoll, Clarke, Hilton, Swann, Wainwright, Noone, M. Gleeson, Westwood, Wood, Barnett, Parker, Bridge.

Referee: A Klein