Rotherham Titans expect a bruising battle when they take on Sheffield Tigers in their penultimate game of the season in National 2 North; kick-off on Saturday at Dore Moor is 3pm.
The fixture is a rearranged one, as the original game slated for earlier in the month was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at Dore Moor.
The results in N2N last weekend saw Titans beat Preston Grasshoppers and Leeds Tykes lose at Fylde; the upshot of that means if Rotherham wins their final two games they will be crowned champions.
However, that won’t be easy ask, as Tigers is one of the toughest challenges Titans face in the season.
Games between these South Yorkshire rivals are always keenly contested and often the result is not settled until late in the game; the same is expected on Saturday.
Additionally, Tigers have a fine record at home having lost just 3 times all season against Sheffield, Leeds and Tynedale and they will look to maintain that record against Rotherham.
Titans however are in good form too, as their current run of 13 consecutive victories will attest and they believe if they can put in a good performance they’ll give themselves an opportunity of getting a result.
The sides have faced each other on five previous occasions, with the overall head-to-head standing at 4-1 to Rotherham.
Going into the match Rotherham have made just one change to the starting XV that beat Preston, with Matt Smith returning from injury and coming back into the side at second row. His return sees John Okafor move into the back row for the unavailable Harry Newborn.
Speaking ahead of the game Titans Gaz Lewis said:
"Our performance against Preston was just rewards for the way we trained as a squad and there was a big focus on not letting the season peter out.
“It didn't look as though Leeds would come unstuck but we kept true to ourselves and kept the standards and intensity of training through the week and the players reaped the rewards.
“We have to keep that focus now for the next two weeks.
"It's a bit of a cliché - one game at a time - but there won't be many bigger ones than Saturday.
"Away to Tigers was always going to be difficult; it's a South Yorkshire derby at Dore Moor but the scenario adds a bit of additional spice to it now and I'm sure they'll want to spoil the party.”
Titans: 15 Jack Townend, 14 Tomasi Tanumi, 13 Lloyd Hayes, 12 Harry Dunne, 11 Jack Taylor, 10 Will Milner, 9 JB Bruzulier, 1 Charlie Capps, 2 Jack Bergmanas, 3 Gareth Denman, 4 Zak Poole (Capt.), 5 Matt Smith, 19 John Okafor, 7 Laurence Cowen-Leak, 8 Callum Bustin.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Loma Kivalu, 30 Reece Ward, 25 Rupert Kay, 22 Will Metcalfe.