‘The opportunity is great’ - Simon Grix hopes Halifax Panthers can return to Wembley for first time since 1988

Simon Grix’s men made it to this stage following Challenge Cup victories against Featherstone Rovers, Barrow Raiders and Bradford Bulls, and Fax’s head coach believes his players “won’t get too many opportunities” to play at the famous stadium.

He said: “We’re one game away, 80 minutes against London. I managed to play in a couple of finals in my career and there are better players than me that have never made a final, so the opportunity to go out at Wembley is great for the boys and a few of them are a bit long in the tooth as well - they won’t get too many opportunities.

“It has been stressful. I won’t use the word ‘pressure’ because pressure is there every week when you play in front of people, but there’s been stress around the league in that we’re not quite cutting it and doing what we need to do and being where everyone expects us to be.

“The cup gives you a little chance to breathe a little bit. We will enjoy that this week and, win or lose, we will give it everything. It’s not the league, it’s not points on the line, it is that shot at Wembley which will provide a different motivation for the lads.

“We are really looking forward to it. It will be a tough game. London have found some form. They have found some cash from somewhere and managed to bolster their squad with some quality players.

“There will be a lot of challenges involved this week but we will face them all together.”

He added: “We have got a really tough period in front of us in the league. The cup competition this week provides a nice little escape and an opportunity to spend some time with each other.

“We’re travelling down the day before and have a night in a hotel, which will be good. We need to take some of the elements of the Newcastle game which we were good at and put them to London.”