One of Brough's former clubs, Hull, stand in Wildcats' way and he admitted they are the form team going into tomorrow's semi-final at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium. But the Scotland captain feels anything can happen on the day.

"Hull are in great form at the moment and we haven't beaten them this year," said Brough. "I think we'll have to do something out of the ordinary to beat them.

"We are going in as underdogs, on present form. We've lost our last four and they've won their last two, but it is a one-off game and anybody can win. I think form goes out of the window.

"I think if we stick together, the tight group that we are, we can overcome Hull and get to the final."

Brough, who recently moved house from Hull to Wakefield, accepts that Wildcats' build-up, in terms of recent performances, has been far from ideal.

"I don't think we've been in the best of form for the last month, to be honest," he said.

"I think we've struggled in doing the little things right and people have been worrying about the big plays and about not being injured for the Challenge Cup semi.

"But there's no excuses on Sunday. If everybody's fit, there should be no dramas. If we do lose, it'll be down to ourselves. It'll be our fault and nobody else's.

"Hull have got a lot of experience, but I don't think that will count for much. It's down to the 80 minutes and who plays best on the day and who wants it the most. Hopefully our lads do."

Brough's goal kicking earned Hull a shock win over Leeds Rhinos in the 2005 final, played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

He said: "It'd be ironic to win the Cup with Hull, then hopefully beat them to get there again.

"I spoke to Richard Agar when he was made head coach and I wished him all the best.

"I was a season ticket holder at Dewsbury when he was there and I think he's a great bloke.

"I've got a lot of mates still in Hull. I speak to a few of the lads and we still get along, though I've kept out of the way of the banter this week."

Eyebrows were raised when Brough opted to move from Castleford Tigers to Wakefield last off-season.

He said he was always confident Wildcats had the potential to feature in showpiece occasions, but acknowledged that tomorrow's has come sooner than expected.

"They haven't had that many big games at Wakefield," he said.