Batley Bulldogs v Halifax: Matt Diskin expects Cup kings to be ‘dangerous’ opponents

Cautious Batley Bulldogs boss Matt Diskin doesn’t expect Halifax to have their minds elsewhere when they visit Mount Pleasant tomorrow (3pm).

Halifax have a BBC-televised Coral Challenge Cup quarter-final looming against Betfred Championship rivals Bradford Bulls in eight days’ time.

They could be forgiven for having one eye on that game and the prospect of moving to within 80 minutes of Wembley, but Diskin warned: “That might make them more dangerous.”

He said: “There could be players putting their hands up for positions.

“They will all want to play in that quarter-final.

“It is a massive game for them so I wouldn’t say it will be any easier playing them this week than at any other time.”

Halifax are unbeaten since Simon Grix took over as coach and defeated Bulls 21-14 at the Summer Bash last weekend.

“It’s a very tough task,” Diskin warned of the challenge facing his men.

“I thought we were very unfortunate not to get a win earlier on in the season against them so we will go into the game with confidence.

“But they were exceptionally good last week.

“They always get up for the Summer Bash and they were fantastic against Bradford, but there’s nothing we see there that we fear.

“We know if we can deliver on what we practice we will be more than comfortable.”