Leeds Rhinos v St Helens: Super League clash live on Sky Sports
Last Updated: 18/03/16 7:47pm
St Helens head coach Keiron Cunningham insists Leeds Rhinos' poor start to the season does not mean they will be easy to beat in Friday's Super League clash at Headingley, live on Sky Sports.
The defending champions have lost four of their five league matches so far this year and also suffered a heavy defeat to the North Queensland Cowboys in the World Club Challenge.
They looked to have turned a corner when narrowly beating Huddersfield Giants 20-16 a fortnight ago, but they were then swept aside 28-6 by Wigan Warriors last weekend.
St Helens, on the other hand, are fourth in the table with four wins from five, including a 44-4 demolition of Wakefield Wildcats in their last outing.
But Cunningham said: "I don't think there's ever a good time to go to Headingley. Huddersfield went there a couple of weeks ago and nearly got the game, but Leeds are Leeds and they fight to the end and they end up picking up the two points.
"Leeds have gone to Wigan and they have been outstanding for 60 minutes or whatever it was, and then Wigan have got some tries towards the end of the game.
"We know what Leeds have got to offer and we know the challenges ahead of us as a team.
"We know what Leeds are going to do. They have not changed the way they play for a couple of years now, so Leeds are going to play that expansive type of game, and at the end of that you have got a Ryan Hall or a Kallum Watkins or somebody running around the ball who is going to put someone through space - [Adam] Cuthbertson and all those middles offloading.
"We know what Leeds do; it's about us and how we deal with that."
Leeds will be boosted on Friday by the return of skipper Danny McGuire, Joel Moon, Carl Ablett and Brett Delaney.
McGuire has been sidelined since the opening game of the season, while Moon and Delaney missed last week's loss at Wigan with hamstring injuries. Ablett suffered an ankle injury in the defeat at Widnes in February.
However, second row Jimmy Keinhorst misses the game with a calf strain picked up against Wigan and Leeds are still without Tom Briscoe, Ashton Golding and Stevie Ward.
For St Helens, Jack Owens returns for injured winger Adam Swift, while Travis Burns and Andre Savelio are also included.
Leeds: Carl Ablett, Rob Burrow, Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Delaney, Beau Falloon, Brett Ferres, Keith Galloway, Mitch Garbutt, Ryan Hall, Ash Handley, Zak Hardaker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Danny McGuire, Joel Moon, Anthony Mullally, Brad Singleton, Liam Sutcliffe, Josh Walters, Kallum Watkins.
St Helens: Kyle Amor, Travis Burns, Matty Dawson, Joe Greenwood, Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Shannon McDonnell, Tommy Makinson, Jack Owens, Dominique Peyroux, Greg Richards, James Roby, Andre Savelio, Lama Tasi, Luke Thompson, Jordan Turner, Atelea Vea, Alex Walmsley, Luke Walsh, Jon Wilkin.
