Huddersfield Giants need to focus on themselves and not assume Hull FC will be sidetracked by the Challenge Cup final.
Head coach Rick Stone says he has no intention of getting into the mindset of the opposition from the KCOM and is simply concentrating on improvements from the Claret and Gold.
Hull FC have captain Gareth Ellis set to make his 450th appearance while Jamie Shaul and Fetuli Talanoa could each make their 100th against the Giants.
That’s just a week ahead of their defence of the Challenge Cup against Wigan Warriors at Wembley.
“I’m not sure if the Challenge Cup will affect them or not, I’ve not had the luxury of being in one,” ventured Stone.
“We understand they have aspirations to finish in the top four and they have a massive, massive game next week in the Cup, but how it will affect them I’m really not sure.
“All I know is it won’t affect us, and we’ve got to play a little bit better than last time.
“They had a pretty committed and strong squad out last time apart from Albert Kelly, who is a big part of their team.
“He is back now and he is a really dangerous threat running with the ball. He is as good as any half in the competition as a ball runner.
“Hull have shown over the last 18 months, too, that they know how to win big games, so we have to prepare appropriately, concentrate on what we can influence, do our diligence, not dig into their mindset and make sure we are ready to go.”
Stone says the Giants have far from given up hope of reaching the top four themselves.
“Realistically, we have to win a high majority of our games (to achieve it), but with everyone playing each other there are little windows of opportunity,” he explained.
“We don’t know what will happen through this week and then the next couple of weeks and, maybe, right at the death there will be an opportunity for someone to jump in.
“For us, it’s about taking pride in our performance, playing as well as we can and making sure we don’t look back at this little stage in the season and wonder ‘what if?’.
“Our effort has been fine. We just need to fine tune a little bit.
“There’s a fair bit of water to go under the bridge yet with regard to the top four, but all I know is we can still keep heading north in the ladder and improve our position.
“I want to see us get to the position where we are playing to our potential for 80 minutes – because there aren’t many games where we have done that this year.
“If we can do that and be in that position this week (at Hull FC), then we will be competitive.”
