HALIFAX Blue Sox will be hungry for revenge when Warrington arrive at the Shay on Sunday.

The Wolves trashed the form back by inflicting the wrong end of a 22-10 scoreline on them back in May for Warrington's first win of the season and their first defeat.

Top two Wigan and Leeds are the only other teams to beat the Sox so far in Super League III and John Pendlebury's men are locked on course for a place in the play-offs.

A season largely free of injury has given Halifax a consistency that Warrington coach Darryl Van de Velde can only envy.

He said: "They've been lucky with injuries and reaped the benefits of fielding the same team week in, week out very well. John Pendlebury is the coach of the year so far for me.

"They've only lost one game at home all year and given everyone a rough ride.

"We seemed to catch them a little overconfident last time because they were on a good run and we hadn't won a game yet at that point. We were hungry for it and took the game so they'll be smarting from that.

"They've got a strong, well balanced pack with players like Kelvin Skerett, Paul Rowley, Des Clark and Martin Moana who give them a lot of drive.

"The half back combination of Gavin Clinch and Chris Chester has plenty of leg pace and good vision. Fereti Tuilagi has great upper body strength and eats up a lot of yards."

"We'll take them on in the pack and let them know they've got a game on their hands. Beyond that we've got to keep working on our vision and start turning more opportunities into tries. We need to find the right attacking options on a more regular basis."

Warrington's play-offs hopes have crumbled after winning only one of their last seven games and tumbling to 10th in the league, but Van de Velde still expects 100 per cent committed from his side.

He said: "I don't put up with players not trying irrespective of where we are in the league. There's the question of personal pride and beyond that there the fans and the sponsors to think about and they pay all our wages at the end of the day.

"There's also international places to play for at the end of the season and contracts to be earnt as well. We'll be keeping it positive and working from week to week."

The coach has a continuing problem with his full back slot as Lee Penny continues to struggle with injury.

He passed a late fitness test on Saturday for the St. Helens clash but suffered a dislocated and fractured thumb in the process and is still experiencing problems with his ankle.

Penny said: "The ankle is getting better now but I couldn't believe it when my thumb dislocated in the first five minutes on Sunday. It was my first drive with the ball as well.

"I popped it back in but it kept coming out. I had an injection in it and played through the pain because the lads said they needed me out there. Hopefully, I can get it strapped up properly and play on Sunday without any problems."

Ian Knott and Chris Rudd are both battling to be fit for Sunday should Penny miss out.

Expected team: Lee Penny; Mark Forster, Mike Eagar, Mike Pechey, Jason Roach; Adam Doyle, Lee Briers; Mark Hilton, Danny Farrar, Danny Nutley, Steve McCurrie, Brendon Tuuta, Mike Wainwright.

Sunday's game kicks-off at the Shay at 3pm.

Youngsters still have a chance to sign up for Wolfie's summer coaching course.

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