Clubb: We'll not give St Helens too much respect

Wigan host St Helens aiming to maintain their own perfect home record this season by bringing their rivals’ 12-game winning streak to a halt.

Saints have been the pace-setters from the start of the campaign and earned many plaudits a long the way.

Prop Clubb has admired the way they’ve maintained their form, but says Wigan won’t show them too much respect.

He said: “They’ve consistently been the best team all year. They’re clear at the top and you have to give them praise for that.

“But we’ll not give them too much respect.

“We’ll not sit back and think, ‘How good is this St Helens team?’

“We’re going to fire in. And I’m sure they’re going to do the same to us.

“It will be physical, and these are the games you want to be involved in.”

New centre Chris Hankinson, signed this week from Swinton, is set to make his debut for Wigan, who lost 21-18 at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Good Friday.

“When we played them at their place, I feel like they didn’t deserve to beat us,” said Clubb.

“It felt like we should have won the game, but they came up trumps. We should have taken the two points and we didn’t, and that’s always tough to take.”

Sean O’Loughlin (calf) and Oliver Gildart (broken thumb) have dropped out of the squad which lost at Huddersfield, but Joe Greenwood, Dan Sarginson and John Bateman could return from injury.

Saints, eight points clear at the top, are unbeaten since April.

Clubb is a Londoner but has been at the club long enough – this is his fifth season – to know the importance of this fixture.

“My good friend Louis (McCarthy-Scarsbrook) plays for them and coming into weeks like that, we don’t speak,” said the 31-year-old.

“The training lifts, even when you walk into town you can feel it – it’s a pleasure to play in these games.

“As soon as the fixtures come out, you look at Good Friday and look at the next one to see when it is.”

Kick-off is at 7.45pm.