Powell hopeful over duo

Featherstone coach Daryl Powell hopes to include Tommy Saxton and Stuart Dickens in his squad for Thursday's Co-operative Championship play-off against Leigh.

Rovers, who have now won three successive League Leaders' Shields, will hope for a repeat of this year's Northern Rail Cup semi-final, when they comfortably beat Paul Rowley's Centurions in a 54-16 romp.

And the hosts' chances would only be boosted by the returns of experienced pair Saxton and Dickens, who have recently suffered back and head problems respectively.

Powell said: "We are the defending champions and we want to retain the title, but we will have to play well.

"All the teams that are in the play-offs are tough sides to play against and anyone can win it. We are going to need to be right on top of our game."

Rowley insists his side's previous results against Featherstone will count for nothing.

He said: "We've only put in a good account of ourselves once against Featherstone this year, and that was at our place.

"But we've improved with every month of the season, we feel fresh and we're in great form. We've every reason to feel confident.

"It's a difficult task but not a daunting task, and it's one we're looking forward to."

Leigh travel without Rob Parker and Sam Hopkins.