Pressure is all on Halifax – McCormack

Sep 1 2008 Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

WIDNES head coach Steve McCormack has refuted the claims of his Halifax counterpart Matt Calland that Vikings are favourites for Thursday’s televised elimination play-off between the two Co-operative National League One rivals at The Shay.

Calland said: “I don’t think we should be favourites. You have to remember that they are full-time and we’re not.”

But McCormack countered: “I’d consider them to be the favourites and the pressure is all on them.”

He added: “The two games we’ve had with Halifax have been pretty close, high scoring and very even.

“They’ve been high quality games and I’m expecting the same again on Thursday.

“We’ve been a bit stop-start all season. We’ve had various setbacks but we’ve got in the top six and we’re not finished yet – we’d like to go as far as we can.

“Halifax have been one of the top sides in the division this year. They’ve got a lot of strike players and a lot of pace. Guys like Holroyd, Penkywicz, Gleeson and Coyle can all create too, so they’ve got a lot of threats that can play some good stuff.”

Lee Paterson (hand) is definitely missing for the visitors while Matty Strong is struggling with a hamstring problem. Jim Gannon and Michael Ostick face disciplinary hearings this Tuesday night that could put their involvement in doubt.

Halifax duo Dave Larder and Dana Wilson face late fitness tests before Calland finalises his squad.