Wharfedale's James Doherty: Steel yourself for a cracker

Basement boys Wharfedale, who got nothing in terms of league points from a spirited 29-18 defeat at third-placed Stourbridge at the weekend, have 19 points, while Sheffield, who have 21 points, were going down 47-10 at second-placed Sale.

"Both teams will be desperate to win," said Doherty, "and, looking at the other fixtures, I don't think that there will be a better game in the division.

"We are used to playing in games like this – I wish that wasn't the case – and it could come to who keeps their nerve the best, but there is no way that we are under-estimating Sheffield.

"They have experience in Dom Parsons and Steve Depledge and, in many ways, they have been like us, staying in matches for long periods without the results going their way, but we go into the match with confidence."

Wharfedale led 10-0 at Stourbridge but blew some chances in the first half and conceded a try when they failed to clear their lines, while in the second half they gave the Midlanders an interception try.

Doherty said: "My emotions were a mixture of pride and frustration afterwards.

"It wasn't a game that we should have won, but it was a game that we could have won, and their replacements did have an influence, especially their hooker, who was a difficult shape to tackle.

"Yes, we didn't get everything right but my pride came because of the performance against the third-placed club, and it wasn't a case of changing things wholesale in training this week.

"It was more a case of tweaking things here and there – such as being a bit better at the breakdown and carrying the ball a bit better in terms of security."

Former Bradford Bulls player Rhys Lovegrove was sin-binned but played for the other 70 minutes, and Doherty said: "He played really well.

"There are a couple of things that are different for him in union, but he carried the ball strongly."