SAINTS get their Super 8s campaign underway this Thursday when they make the short trip to Warrington Wolves.
Games between the two are tied this season, with Keiron Cunningham’s men recording a 25-22 victory at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in April.
In fact, the Wolves’ patch has been a happy hunting ground for Saints over the Super League era, with 22 wins and a draw coming from 26 matches.
“There’s no pressure then!” Cunningham quipped when asked about that record this week. “Why is it that way? I’m not sure but atmosphere probably goes a long way towards it. It is a good venue to play at, our fans enjoy going across there and we’ve had a fair bit of success there too.
“The boot is on the other foot at Langtree Park – they have done well here. Whatever the form, I’m sure Tony (Smith) will have his team ready to go on Thursday.
“They say every cloud has a silver lining and it’s true we’ve been able to freshen things up over the week off. We’ve had some good results and found a bit of form recently but we’d rather be in Tony’s position.
“We can’t change what has happened but we do have players available who wouldn’t have been able to play had we had a game at the weekend.
“We have been able to put some conditioning work into them and I brought them in on Sunday. I don’t think I was the most popular bloke for doing that, but that’s what you have to do with playing on Thursday.
“We have belief in what we are doing and it will be a good round one for us.”
He continued: “Warrington are a good side and are where they are on the league table and in the Challenge Cup because of that. Saints v Warrington matches are always feisty and good games. Tony took his halves off in the second half of the semi-final and rested other players with this game in the back of his mind.
“He knows the importance of it to his troops like it does to ours.
“But, we have got into the top four and the challenge now is to take each round as it comes and maintain the levels we have got to.”
Saints expect Dominique Peyroux will be in contention for a return to the squad this Thursday whilst Theo Fages is a couple of weeks off.
Tommy Makinson is progressing from his knee injury too but won’t be available this season.
“We will be as fit as we are going to be this year in the next couple of weeks,” Cunningham added. “We have found some form, have bodies coming back, and that does help. It will give me a headache for sure.”
Finally, KC once again paid tribute to the fans who have played “a large role” in the club’s recent form.
“They have been fantastic. At Wigan they were in full roar and it’s probably one of the only times I have wanted to pull on a shirt again and be a part of it.
“They will play a big part going forward. We are in the best spot we could be from where we were. We now have four home games and our fans will play a massive part in what we could do. Hopefully, we will reward them for that.”
Tickets for Thursday’s game are on sale from the Ticket Office at Langtree Park, by calling 01744 455 052 or by logging on here.
You can also secure your spec for all our Super 8s games, with the exception of our trip to Widnes.
