Leigh Centurions v Salford Red Devils: Super 8s Qualifiers preview
By PA Sport
Last Updated: 13/08/16 6:53pm
Ian Watson wants his Salford side to continue the form they showed at Huddersfield when they face local rivals Leigh on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 4 HD from 2.55pm.
The Red Devils kicked off the Middle 8s with an impressive 34-12 win over the Giants and head to Leigh with the intention of making it two from two in the second part of the season.
"We need to focus on our job, take the positives from the Huddersfield game and focus on our strengths," said Salford head coach Watson, who hopes to get more minutes out of new signings Luke Burgess and Feleti Mateo at Leigh Sports Village.
"We know what Leigh are about, they're a big, physical team who like to use their middles. We need to combat that."
Mason Caton-Brown was the star of last weekend's win, with Watson admitting the winger's speed gives his side a different dimension.
"We worked on that during the week," he told his club's official website. "We felt that if we had some speed on the edges, we would get them.
"What we want to take forward is the confidence we played with, especially the first 20 minutes.
"We spoke about the way we wanted to play and get on the front foot. The way we executed that, it gave us so much confidence and we need to take that forward."
Leigh go into the game having hung on to defeat London last weekend.
They conceded 22 points in the last nine minutes and were grateful for the final whistle, ending 34-30 winners.
"It could be a blessing in disguise, a kick up the bum," forward Harrison Hansen, once of Salford, told the Leigh Journal.
"There were plenty of nerves and a lot of the things we did were out of character.
"If we serve up the same stuff we did in the last 15 minutes (against London), they will hammer us."
Leigh have worries over Adam Higson (wrist) and Fuifui Moimoi (hamstring) while Greg Worthington misses out after being given a two-match ban for punching.
Leigh Centurions: Jamie Acton, Tom Armstrong, Mitch Brown, Matty Dawson, Josh Drinkwater, Andrew Dixon, Harrison Hansen, Micky Higham, Adam Higson, Gareth Hock, Liam Hood, Sam Hopkins, Gregg McNally, Reni Maitua, Cory Paterson, Martyn Ridyard, Danny Tickle, Willie Tonga, Dayne Weston.
Salford Red Devils: Luke Burgess, Mason Caton-Brown, Michael Dobson, Niall Evalds, Mark Flanagan, Josh Griffin, George Griffin, Weller Hauraki, Greg Johnson, Sean Kenny, Craig Kopczak, Olsi Krasniqi, Rob Lui, Feliti Mateo, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Gareth O'Brien, Junior Sa'u, Logan Tomkins, Jordan Walne.
Watch Leigh v Salford live on Sky Sports 4 HD on Saturday from 2.55pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.