Hull KR v Salford Red Devils: Robins remain in bubble as outside noise reaches fever pitch

Few outside of east Hull expected the Robins to last the pace in the race for the League Leaders' Shield, yet Willie Peters' team continue to defy the doubters.

August was viewed as the month when Rovers could come unstuck but instead of faltering they have found another gear to claim statement wins at Warrington Wolves and St Helens either side of a Magic Weekend demolition of Catalans Dragons.

A run of 11 wins in 12 matches has certainly convinced the bookmakers that they can reach the Grand Final, with Super League's title sponsor Betfred installing KR as second favourites to win the main prize behind defending champions Wigan Warriors, who currently hold all four trophies.

However, there is little chance of the outside noise derailing the Robins on Peters' watch.

"I'll leave that to the bookies and whoever judges that," said the Australian ahead of tonight's home clash with Salford Red Devils.

"We're the same team as the start of the season in terms of belief and what we do internally. That hasn't changed for us.

"Other people's opinions are what makes the game exciting, and the fans are excited about where your team could go.

"We've just got our heads down and are focused on Friday. We'll see where we are after that with three games to go.

"The most important game for us is Salford."

The League Leaders' Shield is KR's to lose in the final four rounds but the remaining fixtures show how much work is still to be done for the table-toppers.

After hosting the Red Devils, Rovers travel to Wigan and Leigh Leopards before finishing the regular season back at home against Leeds Rhinos.

It is little wonder, then, that Peters' men quickly moved on from last week's impressive win over a depleted St Helens.

"Whenever you sing the team song, it's always one of the most enjoyable things you can do in a team environment," said Peters. "It brings a lot of happiness to a team.

"Singing our team song afterwards is certainly celebrating and enjoying the moment but you can't celebrate moments for too long because in six days' time you're playing against a top-four team.

"For us, it's about doing recovery. There was a good vibe there and a good energy about the group. Since then our focus has been on Salford.

"You have your little moments when you celebrate and enjoy it but it's nothing outrageous because it's about the players' next job which is Salford at home."

In the likes of captain Elliot Minchella and experienced forward Dean Hadley, Rovers have leaders who have seen it all during their time at Craven Park.

With those players leading the way, Peters is confident the Robins will continue to keep their emotions in check.

"It's really important," he said.

"If you ride the highs and go too high, you come back to earth pretty quickly and the lows are low.

"We always talk about performance first. Naturally you need to win towards the back end of the year. Sometimes you might not perform well but just need to get the two points. We're aware of that as well. But the majority of the time, we look at our performance and judge ourselves on that.

"We played against an understrength St Helens side, we're fully aware of that, but we did a job that I was really happy with, with the experienced team we had.

"It was a really good sign of growth of where the team is at. We've got a new challenge against Salford who are coming off a huge win.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond to that. I know where the group's headspace is at. They're a level-headed group and very focused and hungry to do well."

Whereas Hull KR are assured of a play-off place, Salford still have work to do despite sitting fourth after last week's 60-10 rout of Huddersfield Giants.

Rovers nilled the Red Devils at Craven Park in the Challenge Cup at the start of the year but they have been given a timely reminder of their attacking prowess.

"They're the type of team that are going to throw every shape at you so you need to have a narrow focus on the main threats," said Peters.

"They'll throw different things at you that you haven't trained for or seen but certainly our systems hold up to the majority of what teams throw at us.

"We'll come up with a plan on how we want to attack against them and look at their trends and threats but it'll always come back to what we can control and do well.

"They've got some very good individual players but I'm happy with who is in our group. We need to keep building on what we've done over the last month or so."