St Helens boss Kristian Woolf takes unusual step ahead of Challenge Cup showdown with Whitehaven

St Helens, fresh from their first defeat of the season to Toulouse Olympique last week, will travel to Whitehaven this weekend for the Challenge Cup Sixth Round.

But, instead of travelling up on the day of the game, head coach Kristian Woolf has revealed that he plans to head up to Cumbria tomorrow to prepare well for the clash.

Woolf told the Liverpool World: “We will be travelling the day before the match to ensure our preparations are spot on.

“We will also be looking around the ground and getting a feeling for the area.”

“I expect them to make it as difficult as they can for us but if we show the right attitude I’m confident we can progress into the next round.”

One man who could return for Saints is Welsh winger Regan Grace, who hasn’t played all season after suffering an injury before the campaign began.

“Regan is going to be named in the squad this week.

“He’s done a great job with his rehab – I thought it would be a little bit earlier to be honest, but we got to a point where we didn’t want to take the risk.

“He’s been out for a long time – he’s missed six games as well as a chunk of the pre-season so we didn’t want to take any extra risks.

“We now know is that he’s 100% ready to go and there’s no risk whatsoever of him re-doing that.

“It’s been great having him back at training and seeing how well he moves with the ball and without the ball.

“His speed and his energy that he’s brought to the group because he’s fresh and ready to go.”