Doncaster Knights: Forward battle will be key in clash with the Titans, says Matt Challinor

“Being a Rotherham lad and still living in the town for me personally it’s the biggest home game of the season,” said Knights’ club captain.

“It was certainly the first game that I looked for when the fixtures came out in the summer.

“There’s a fierce rivalry and it’s always tough when they do well and we don’t, as was the case when we were relegated a couple of years ago.”

Challinor says that all of the former Clifton Lane players in the Doncaster ranks missed the derby games last season.

“We’ve not played them for two years so we can’t wait for Sunday to try and put one over them,” he said.

“Being local I’ve watched a couple of their games when we’ve been playing on a different day to them.

“They’ve got some elusive backs.

“But we’ve also got a good back division so it will probably come down to who can win the forward battle and provide a platform.

“I personally think we can take them up front and if we can do that, and give our backs the edge, I think that we can win the game.

“I certainly think that given the quality of the two back divisions it will be an entertaining game for those in the ground or watching on Sky.”

Knights go into the game on a run of five successive league defeats - although they won all six of their B&I Cup Pool 4 games which were sandwiched in between.

Despite the fact that Knights are currently languishing in the bottom three, Challinor remains confident the club will hang on to their Championship status.

“If we can do well this month I think it would put us in good stead for the rest of the season,” he said.

“But we certainly need to starting showing the sort of form we’ve shown on the road at Castle Park.

“We’ve only lost two away games this season whereas we’ve lost four at home.

“Hopefully we can improve our home record.”