KELLS boss Peter Smith is hoping his side’s pit top pitch will give them an advantage in this afternoon’s Challenge Cup clash with Orrell St James, ko 2pm.

The Whitehaven side is hoping to be in the third round draw on Tuesday night, where League One clubs, including Whitehaven and Workington Town, enter the fray.

But first they need to get past their Wigan counterparts this afternoon.

“Orrell will be looking to turn the tables on us but they have to come to the pit pitch and I think that is always worth a couple of points to us,” said Smith.

“I don’t think we have ever played them in my time but I think they’re a young team who put up a good score in the last round.

“But this is now down to us and how we adapt to playing an unknown team.

“We will treat them with the utmost respect but we will be looking after our own game.”

Smith is keen for his side to progress in the Challenge Cup but admits the league is still their priority

“I am still looking at this as a pre-season match and I will be trying out some different combinations to see what works for us,” said Smith. “But we still want to win the game.

“We needed to broaden our squad and so it proved at the back end of last year when we needed numbers and had to play a lot of kids against Wath Brow.

“We know the team will never be the same throughout the year, with holidays, weddings and trips away and we want competition for places.

“We want to be on form for our first league game on March 3 against Rochdale Mayfield.”

Kells have a long standing tradition in the Challenge Cup and have gone into and past the third round on a few occasions.

“We haven’t done bad,” admitted Smith. “We’ve played Leeds and Hunslet and held our own for a while against Oldham a couple of years ago and we beat Hemel Stags.

“We have had a couple of good draws at home so far and you can’t beat that in this competition.”

Wath Brow are also in action today as they travel to Hunslet Parkside while Distington host Lock Lane, of Castleford.