'Belief not relief': Leeds Rhinos' Rohan Smith talks desperation derby v Wakefield Trinity and his best 17

Visitors Wakefield Trinity have lost all three of their Betfred Super League games so far this season and have not scored in either of their past two.

Though Leeds got off the mark with victory at champions St Helens last week, they suffered a narrow defeat to Hull in their opening home game and are keen to make up for that.

Under new coach Mark Applegarth, Trinity won at Headingley in both sides’ opening pre-season fixture, at Christmas and Smith reckons they are a better team than their league results suggest.

Smith warned: “We got an early glimpse of Wakefield on Boxing Day and I thought they were very well organised as a team, in attack and defence.

“They were very connected with their defence, hard to break down. They had a rough day against Wigan [a 60-0 defeat] and [Jai] Field and [Bevan] French and co were very sharp that day, but in the other two games - against top-quality opposition in Catalans and Huddersfield - they’ve been hard to break down.

“We are expecting a really strong performance. Anyone who hasn’t won in the first few weeks will be desperate and we are desperate to get started at home after a disappointing round two performance.”

Rhinos’ priority now is building on last week’s result and finding some consistency. Smith added: “Some guys have started the year pretty well, but collectively we maybe haven’t been consistent.

“Some people probably felt some relief last Friday, but I actually felt belief. I didn’t feel relieved we had won, I felt like we showed some of what we’ve got. We know what we’ve got and there’s a lot of belief in our group.”

Centre Harry Newman and second-row James Bentley are set to make their first appearance of the season for Rhinos, following long-term injury and Sam Lisone is back in contention after missing last week’s game through illness.

Hooker Kruise Leeming (foot injury) and prop Justin Sangare (paternity leave) drop out from the side which won at Saints.

Mikolaj Oledzki (shoulder) and Morgan Gannon (concussion) remain on the casualty list, but Rhinos’ squad is arguably their strongest of the campaign so far.

Smith, though, feels his best 17 is “a work in progress and a week-to-week proposition”. He said: “It’s [down to] how people play and train and what’s the right mix for the particular week.

“It is good to have more people available for selection who are fully-fledged quality Super League players.

“That’s great, but some of the other guys who have played and contributed so far have done well.

“The 17 will be a week-to-week proposition, but it is good to have people competing for spots. I have said that to the guys, it’s game on - the more people are available for selection, the more competition there is, which inevitably brings out the best in people.”

Smith admitted Sangare, who has made a big impact off the bench, will be missed, but confirmed he will return when Rhinos visit Castleford Tigers next Thursday.

“Justin has done a tremendous job for us so far,” the coach said. “I am not surprised, but he has played well and he will be back in the team next week for sure.”

Gannon missed last year’s Super League semi-final and title decider because of concussion and will sit out a second successive game this weekend.

He has completed his mandatory stand down period after failing a head injury assessment during the defeat by Hull two weeks ago, but Smith stressed: “We feel it’s very important - with young players particularly, but any players - they do suitable amounts of training and make some intervention to improve technique and strength, particularly for a young player, rather than simply doing the concussion protocols and ticking the boxes.

“Morgan has also been to see a specialist and had an MRI and we are getting all the information together so we can take the best course of action on his return.

“He hasn’t had any symptoms, he has been training on his graduated return to training. We are just going to take a bit longer than a regular one because he is a young player and he has had a bump in the past. We are being as supportive as we can be for Morgan to build his season.”