Rest has helped Wizards

WARRINGTON Wizards player-coach Paul Alcock believes the break in the Conference Three fixture list has been beneficial to the players carrying injuries as they prepare for their finalleague game at Coventry tomorrow, Saturday.
The league programme was suspended last weekend due to the Challenge Cup final at Wembley, and Alcock says his side have used the time well and gave his side the week off training.
He said: “Its been a long season and I think we started pre season a bit earlier than everyone else. We’ve played pretty much every weekend from the start of the season, so I think the lads have worked heard and they’ve earned their break.
“We were able to rest some bodies who had been carrying knocks over the last couple of weeks and get ready for a very important time of the season.”
The Wizards now travel to Coventry Bears for their final regular season game. The Bears overtook Wizards in third place over the cup final weekend, as they played a rearranged fixture from earlier in the season.
That result meant this weekend’s match at Butts Park Arena decides who finishes in third place, and has the advantage of two possible home matches in the play offs.
Alcock said his side’s 36-16 defeat of Coventry earlier in the season at Wilderspool doesn’t show how hard the game was.
He said: “We scored a couple of late tries towards the end, but they’re a good tough physical team and they like to score tries from nowhere.
“They have a few Jamaican players in the team, and they’re not far off Championship 1 standard. We’re under no illusions that it is going to be a tough match and we do need to be at our best but it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to.
“They’ve gone above us on points difference, but we kind of knew this game was always going to lead up to be a big one in terms of league positions. If we are going to win this league then we need to beat these teams around us.
“It’s a game in front of us that we need to win and if the lads work hard and put into practise what we train to do on the field we should come away with a win.”
Alcock will motivate his side to overcome their drop in form after losing three matches in the last four matches.
However he said it is more important to put in a good performance rather than worrying too much about Saturday’s result.
He said: “We would like the win but we need to start showing some sort of form leading into the play offs.
“The lads have worked hard to put themselves in a good position in the league but play offs are all about momentum. It’s important to get a bit of form behind this game and hopefully we can push on from that then.”
Kick off is 6.00pm in Coventry, and the Wizards’ coach will leave the Village Hotel on Saturday, September 1 at 1.30pm. To book your seat on the coach please ring Nikki Whalley on 07889170895.