HALIFAX and Widnes don't go head to head on the field until Thursday night - but rival bosses Matt Calland and Steve McCormack are already at loggerheads about which team should be favourites to win the make-or-break play off clash.
Fax have home advantage after finishing third in the National League One table and have taken five points from a possible six against Widnes this season.
But the big-spending Vikings would have pushed them back to third if they had not been stripped of nine points before the season started after they went bust at the end of 2007.
And Calland believes that, and the fact Widnes are full time, means they should shoulder the burden of expectation.
"I don't think we should be favourites," said Calland. "You have to remember that they are full time and we're not."
McCormack was having none of it though, insisting it is Fax that will be feeling the heat.
"I'd consider them to be the favourites and the pressure is all on them," he said.
"The two games we've had with Halifax have been pretty close, high scoring and very even."
Fax trained last night and will have further sessions tonight and tomorrow to give themselves the best possible chance of keeping their Grand Final dream alive.
Calland was checking on a clutch of injury problems, with long term pack casualties David Larder, Mick Govin and Dana Wilson joining a host of more short term concerns - Ben Black, Mark Flanagan, Paul Southern, David Wrench and James Haley - in the treatment room.
"Some of them will come through and some of them probably won't," said Calland.
"The thing is, if we can just get through Thursday night unscathed then we could end up having a fully fit squad for the next game.
"It would be the first time we'd been in that position all year."
For Widnes, loose forward Lee Paterson (hand) is definitely out while Matty Strong is struggling with a hamstring problem.
Ex-Fax enforcer Jim Gannon and Michael Ostick, both in hot water after Widnes' loss at Whitehaven, face disciplinary hearings tonight that could rule them out.
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