Wakefield Trinity v Leigh Leopards: Daryl Powell unruffled by home record ahead of '50/50' Challenge Cup tie

Being drawn first does not offer any guarantees but a degree of comfort can usually be taken from securing a knockout game in familiar surroundings.

While Wakefield Trinity would never turn down the chance to play in front of a partisan crowd at Belle Vue for a place in the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup, they might have been secretly wishing for an away tie.

Daryl Powell's side have won all five games on the road this year, in stark contrast to their home form which reads three matches, three defeats.

Powell could be forgiven for taking his players on a bus ride before tonight's home quarter-final against Leigh Leopards but experience has taught him to take each game on its merit.

After seeing his team edged out in close games against Hull KR and Hull FC, Powell is unruffled by Trinity's home form.

"People keep asking me about it but I'm not going after that too much," he said.

"We've lost some tight games here and have been right in them. St Helens got away from us a little bit.

"The performance levels have been right where we would want them to be. Sometimes you are on the wrong side of results.

"I don't think it's anything to do with our performances. The boys are in a great place.

"I'm not going to chase it. I think it's important that we chill out and relax over it.

"We've got to make sure we get our game right. If we do that, the wins are going to come."

Belief should not be an issue for Trinity after sweeping aside the Leopards in round six of Super League last weekend.

Wakefield ran in seven tries in a 40-14 win at Leigh Sports Village to lay down a marker going into a do-or-die clash.

Any notion that Adrian Lam's side had one eye on the cup tie has been dismissed by Powell.

"Leigh had lost the week before to Hull KR and you don't want to lose games at home," said Powell. "You don't want to lose any game.

"I don't see any reason why anybody would have done that (held something back). We certainly didn't.

"Sometimes I've gone into games thinking about the week after and playing slightly differently but I just felt like we needed to win that game last week. We went flat out for that game knowing we had a seven-day turnaround.

"I do think there will be tweaks to the way both teams play based on what we saw last week. We have to be mindful of that.

"We know it's going to be a really tough game. Leigh are talking about wanting to play better than they did – and so do we."

The last time the clubs met in the Challenge Cup in 2023, Leigh cruised to a 40-12 victory at Belle Vue to inflict a 13th straight defeat on Trinity.

Wakefield have come a long way since that night, as evidenced by last week's performance on their return to the scene of their relegation.

After claiming the treble during their brief stay in the Championship, the next step for Trinity is to win a major trophy.

Their best hope of doing that this year appears to be in the Challenge Cup, a competition that is wide open following Wigan Warriors' early exit.

It is a trophy that still holds special importance for Powell.

"The players value the Challenge Cup massively," said the 59-year-old, who won at Wembley as a player with Leeds Rhinos. "It's been outside of that and the financial side of things.

"It's an awesome competition that should be revered. It's an iconic competition that everyone wants to win.

"We're in the same boat as everyone else."

Powell's side do not have to look far for inspiration as they aim to end the club's 62-year wait for Challenge Cup glory.

In their first season back in Super League in 2023, Leigh went all the way to win at Wembley after dumping Wakefield out of the cup.

To keep their own dream alive, Trinity must find a way of outlasting the Leopards when the pressure is on.

"It's a 50/50 game," said Powell.

"The team that gets the performance levels and clutch moments right will get to the semis.

"It's one-off, knockout rugby and the best team is going to win. We've got to make sure we're the best team."