Wigan Warriors v Wakefield Trinity: Daryl Powell takes pressure off top-four hopefuls with 'free hit' message

Sometimes the answer is a rocket and other times it is an arm around the shoulder.

Daryl Powell appears to believe Wakefield Trinity need the latter after a chastening defeat to St Helens left his side with back-to-back losses at a crucial stage of the Super League season.

A trip to joint-top Wigan Warriors leaves Trinity with seemingly nowhere to hide as their challenging run-in continues.

But Powell is using the daunting assignment as an opportunity to ease the tension.

"It's a big game," he acknowledged. "They all are now with four games left.

"Going away to Wigan is always one of the most significant challenges in the calendar.

"I think we've been favourites a lot recently, even against Leeds, but I don't think there's any pressure on us at all in this game. Wigan have won 12 straight – they're flying and expected to win.

"It's almost a free hit. We've just got to go and challenge them."

The last time they suffered a heavy defeat, ironically in the reverse fixture at home to Wigan in June, Powell's men responded with seven straight wins to establish themselves as title challengers.

Powell, whose side remain well placed in their bid to claim a top-four spot and a home play-off tie, is keen to keep their recent setbacks in perspective.

"You have these ebbs and flows through a season," he said.

"We understand where we're at. The last couple of weeks have been disappointing, particularly last week, but there are reasons for that.

"We've just got to get back on track and not dwell too much on it. We moved on pretty much straight away when we came back in this week.

"Part of the game is dealing with setbacks, maintaining your resolve and improving from it.

"This is a big game but it doesn't define everything. I just don't think there's any pressure on us.

"Wigan are a formidable outfit and we need to play outstandingly well to win this game. I think we're capable of doing that – but there's no pressure on us to do it."

While Wakefield have not become a bad team overnight, the picture has changed since their last win at Catalans Dragons at the start of the month.

Isaiah Vagana and Josh Rourke were significant losses in the early stages of the defeat to St Helens and face battles to play again this year.

Tom Johnstone misses out for the second week running with a knee issue, while Mason Lino has not played since June.

Powell is also without Jay Pitts and Jazz Tevaga but has moved to bolster his options with Zac Lipowicz and Emre Guler drafted in following the departures of Seth Nikotemo and Thomas Doyle.

Powell is hopeful Trinity's selection issues will soon ease further.

"I think Tom Johnstone is one week," said the Wakefield boss. "He should be okay next week.

"Isaiah, unsure but the scan wasn't as bad as we thought it might have been.

"Josh Rourke is at least four weeks. He's in a brace at the moment and the timescale needs to be assessed when he sees a specialist.

"Mason is pretty close. He just needs to get fit. He's been out for 10 weeks, which is a long time, but is training with the boys now.

"I think it'd be a couple of weeks before he can get his fitness up to a level where you'd be comfortable putting him out there but I'd be guessing.

"Zac and Emre have only trained with us today (Thursday) so there's some difficulty there but I felt like we needed to do something to stiffen us up and give us the best chance to finish the regular season really well."

Guler could feature against Wigan despite only touching down in England on Thursday morning.

Powell's message to the former St George Illawarra Dragons prop and his new team-mates is simple: embrace the challenge.

"We always knew it was a tough run-in," said Powell, whose team also face York Knights, Warrington Wolves and Leigh Leopards in the final few weeks of the regular season.

"This is probably the toughest team sport in the world and you know you're going to go through some ups and downs.

"But we find ourselves in a great position. We've got to go on with it. These games against big teams are great opportunities. If you beat these big teams, you're a great chance."