Northern Rail Cup Final

Featherstone Rovers coach Daryl Powell will check the fitness of James Lockwood (ankle) and Matty Dale (calf) before finalising his squad for Sunday's mouth-watering Northern Rail Cup final against Halifax.

However, Powell has hinted that the Blackpool bonanza could come too soon for Tangi Ropati.

Featherstone's 31-28 win over Batley last week extended Rovers' winning run to 10 successive games.

Powell said: "We had to dig deep to win it. We were a little bit scratchy and we gave too much away.

"We just about edged it, but there wasn't much in it. However, having a tough test helps going into a big game. You don't want to be playing soft games.

"We'll go to Blackpool and have a real go at what's going to be a pretty special day."

Rovers have never been to the Northern Rail Cup final, but Powell is confident ahead of the clash between the Co-operative Championship's two best attacking teams.

"We've had a couple of real tussles with Halifax," said Powell.

"We just beat them early on in the Northern Rail Cup, but then we got absolutely hammered at home. We'd just played Wigan and they put the cleaners through us.

"We know what they can do. They're a clever side with loads of pace. Hopefully it's going to be a great final."

Halifax coach Karl Harrison expects to be picking from a squad of 22 or 23 fit and available players, although Ross Divorty (ankle ligaments) will not feature.

Halifax also travel to Blackpool on a high, having seen off Hunslet 52-22 last week.

Harrison said: "It was a good run out. For 60 minutes of the game we were very, very good and very ruthless.

"Some of the tries we scored were magnificent, but we probably went a bit soft defensively in the last 20 minutes.

"But I told the players to make my decision really difficult, and they certainly have done."