Watson’s Wembley dream for his trophy-hungry Red Devils
SALFORD take on Catalans tonight knowing victory would leave them just 80 minutes from a place in the Challenge Cup final.
It is still hoped that game will be held at Wembley and in front of spectators on October 17 - something which moved a step closer yesterday when it was confirmed that up to 1,000 fans will be permitted to attend four Betfred Super League fixtures on September 30.
But before then, the Red Devils must overcome the Dragons.
“You want to compete and win every time you go out on the field,” said coach Ian Watson. “It’s a different competition and a different kind of approach to it.
“We’ve made it no secret in-house that we want to try and win the Challenge
Cup - so we have to put out our best performance against Catalans to be able to do that.” While Salford had the bye last weekend, the Dragons played in front of 5,000 fans at their Stade Gilbert Brutus home, but were well beaten by Wigan Warriors.
“I think it will be a lot different to the team they had out against Wigan,” predicted Watson. “There are a few players they potentially rested with the Challenge Cup in mind.
“The interesting thing is they had the 14-day isolation period before that, similar to what we did. “And we know that in our second game we performed a lot better than we did in our first game, so I’m sure they’ll want to turn the tide on that one, but we’ll be ready for them.” Watson is without fullback Niall Evalds because of injury, but has named both new signing Kallum Watkins and fellow England international centre Dan Sarginson in his 21-man squad for the tie.
Skipper Lee Mossop again misses out, but isn’t too far away from returning to the side.
“He is always kind of on the cusp,” said Watson. “He’s one of those that we’re really wary with all the time.
“What we want Moose to do is come back and stay back, and continue to play. But we know from history that if we put him out there and he’s not quite right, he breaks down - and we struggle then.
“Moose is a big leader for us. Although this is a massive game, Lee isn’t fit enough to compete at this moment in time.
“So it’s up to other people to step forward. Gil Dudson has done it before, stepped forward and led in Lee’s absence, Mark Flanagan has, as well and Tyrone McCarthy.
“It’s for them to grab the bull by the horns and lead on their own merits.”
SALFORD: