Salford v Wakefield preview
Two sides who were victorious at Magic Weekend meet in the First Utility Super League on Saturday and both Salford and Wakefield will be wanting to pick up where they left off at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Jacob Miller's 50-metre drop goal sealed a dramatic 25-24 victory for Wakefield over Catalans at the start of Magic Weekend. Miller is retained in the squad with head coach Chris Chester making just two changes to the winning side.
Reece Lyne makes a welcome return to action for Wakefield after tearing his hamstring against Hull FC last month and Anthony England is back after his one-match suspension. They replace Stuart Howarth and Jordan Crowther respectively.
Chester knows Salford's position in the table is deceptive - they are tenth after a six-point deduction for breaching the Super League salary cap - and their form is improving. "They're a team that are playing well," Chester told the club website.
"They played particularly well at Magic Weekend, and they're a big physical side and a good footballing side. I've been really impressed with Robert Lui this year. They missed him when he was out and it's no coincidence that when he's back they've found a bit of form."
Salford fought hard from 12-4 down to beat Widnes 18-12 to ensure that their Magic Weekend also contained a victory.
Justin Carney is unavailable for selection due to serving a one-week ban and his place will be taken by Niall Evalds. Consistency of performance is what head coach Ian Watson is looking for from his side.
"We need to start making sure that we're picking the wins up," Watson told the club website. "What we spoke about in the group is that we need to be a little bit more consistent with our results because we've had a few games that we've won, lost, won, lost and we need to pick them up and start getting some wins back-to-back."
A home victory would go a long way towards pressuring Hull KR and others above them, but Wakefield will be challenging opponents having lost just one of their last six matches.
Wakefield Wildcats: Scott Anderson, Chris Annakin, Tinirau Arona, Joe Arundel, Matty Ashurst, Anthony England, Liam Finn, Craig Hall, Tom Johnstone, Ben Jones-Bishop, Max Jowitt, Danny Kirmond, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Nick Scruton, Mickael Simon, Mikey Sio, Anthony Tupou, Bill Tupou.
Salford Red Devils: Jake Bibby, Michael Dobson, Niall Evalds, Mark Flanagan, George Griffin, Weller Hauraki, Josh Jones, Phil Joseph, Craig Kopczak, Olsi Krasniqi, Ryan Lannon, Rob Lui, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Gareth O'Brien, Junior S'au, Logan Tomkins, Daniel Vidot, Adam Walne, Jordan Walne.
