Championship preview: Halifax Panthers look to return to winning ways against unbeaten Sheffield Eagles

Fax let a promising 14-4 half-time lead slip at Widnes Vikings, who continued their own 100 per cent record in the Championship with a 40-14 victory last weekend.

On the defeat, head coach Liam Finn said:

“I was disappointed with not being able to get a foothold in the second half. There was no lack of effort, we just couldn’t get any momentum in the second half and Widnes played really well.

“The further the game went on, the more we tried to force things and got things more wrong which compounded the issue. We know what we need to do and we are working on it.”

But Finn’s men are arguably set for an even tougher assignment in round five against a soaring Eagles side which has won nine of their ten competitive games in 2024 - their only blemish coming against Super League giants Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup.

“They are a good team with a lot of good players,” Finn admitted. “They have gone out and done a fair bit of shopping over the last few years. They have got a big squad and plenty of people to pick from and most of them are quality players so it is going to be a challenge.”

He added: “They are a good all-round team with some individuals that help that. Thackeray (Anthony) has been doing that for a long time at half-back.

“But we just need to make sure that we are prepared to play our best game and put our best foot forward.”