ANTHONY MURRAY will be looking for his North Wales Crusaders side to dodge a potential banana skin tomorrow.

The Crusaders return to competitive action on Saturday as they head to Leigh Miners Rangers in the second round of the Challenge Cup.

In a warm-up for this weekend, the North Wales club were scheduled to head north to Barrow for a pre-season encounter on Sunday.

However, positive Covid-19 cases and injuries in the Crusaders’ ranks meant the match had to be postponed.

“When we play over at Leigh Miners, they’ll be up for the challenge,” Murray told the Crusaders’ website.

“They’ll all be wanting the underdog to get the win so it’s another challenge we face and one we’re looking forward to.”

In the last round, Leigh Miners recovered from a 20-6 deficit to defeat Milford 22-20.

Jordy Gibson, who is entering his second full season with the Crusaders after making the step up from the community game himself, is expecting a tough examination tomorrow.

He said: “They’ll come at us hard.”

After a successful campaign in 2021 that saw Crusaders finish third and reach the League One play-offs for the first time since 2015, the North Wales club will be hoping to continue their momentum during the new campaign.

Gibson added: “We’ve got quite a few new players so it’ll be good to see how they go.

“The pre-season attitude has been fantastic and I believe they’ll fit in perfectly to what we’re trying to do at Crusaders.

“We’ve had a tough pre-season and everyone’s bought into what Muzza and the coaching staff wanted us to do.

“Last season showed how well everything worked when we stuck to our structures and I think it’s just a case of doing the same and working hard for each other.

“If we turn up with the right attitude each week, we know we won’t be far off.”

Entry to the Challenge Cup tie between Leigh and Crusaders, including a programme, is priced at £5.

The Crusaders Supporters Club is running a coach to Twist Lane, priced at £14 per person and leaving the Turf, in Wrexham, at 12.15pm.

Interested supporters can e-mail crufansbus@gmail.com to book.

Tomorrow’s other ties: York Acorn v Wests Warriors; Hunslet Club Parkside v Stanningley; West Hull v Rochdale Mayfield; Pilkington Recs v Siddal ARLFC.

British Army take on the Royal Navy tomorrow while there’s a London derby between Skolars and Chargers.

In all League 1 affairs, Rochdale Hornets host Coventry Bears and Keighley travel to Hunslet on Sunday.

Other ties: Doncaster v Thornhill Trojans; West Wales Raiders v Swinton Lions; Oldham v Lock Lane.