Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos: Belief not an issue for Rohan Smith's side in pursuit of consistency

The Rhinos have struggled for consistency in the early months of the Super League campaign, with last week's home loss to Salford Red Devils leaving Smith's men off the pace in the race for the play-offs.

Leeds recovered from a miserable start to last year to reach the Grand Final, confirming their Old Trafford place with a famous win at Wigan Warriors.

Smith is hoping Friday's trip to the DW Stadium proves to be a turning point in this season.

"We know we need to improve and play a bit better for a bit longer in most games," he said.

"We've been in all the games, which is a good starting point. It's not where we want to be, for sure, but we've been in and competing in every game and the majority could have gone either way.

"We're still a way away from playing at the level we think we can but we're not far away from results.

"There's certainly no panic. We're focusing on getting ourselves ready to play well against Wigan and treating each week like it's a big game.

"The belief in the group is strong. I have belief in this group of players and feel we're not far away from playing well, but clearly we need to get some results on the board as well as improve our ability to play well for longer."

Matt Peet's Wigan are one of the favourites to lift the Super League trophy in October, thanks in no small part to a six-match winning run that featured victories over Warrington Wolves and St Helens.

Smith is expecting a response from the Warriors following a surprise defeat at Hull FC.

"They've been one of the standout teams," he said.

"They've had a quality start to the season. They're well-coached and have got a good roster.

"They're playing with some level of confidence, although clearly they'll want to bounce back from last week's result. They came home strong at the back end of that game so it could have gone either way in the end.

"They're a quality team with plenty of threats."

Leeds have fond memories of their last visit to Wigan in September when Smith's side produced an inspired performance to claim a 20-8 semi-final victory against the odds.

"It was a special night but this is its own one and it's about trying to replicate that on a smaller scale," added Smith.

"It's not a play-off game but it's a really important game for us.

"It's important for us to play better for longer periods of the game and see if that's good enough against one of the competition's strongest teams."