Morgan Smithies states Wigan Warriors must thrive off Belle Vue's hostile atmosphere in Sunday's Challenge Cup tie against Wakefield

Matty Peet’s make the trip to Belle Vue, with a mixed record under their belt there in recent years.

Smithies states the Wigan squad knows it will be a tough task in a “hostile” atmosphere, but still remains a fixture they are looking forward to.

He said: “I’m looking forward to Sunday, it’s anyone's game in the Challenge Cup, whoever plays best will get through to the next round, it’s as simple as that. We will be prepping well and all the boys are buzzing for it.

“Wakefield are a threat and we won’t be taking it lightly, they are a good team. We’d be a bit stupid to go into that game thinking it will be an easy game of rugby.

“Since I’ve been going with the U19s, it’s never been an easy place to go, they make it very tough. So that’s something else we need to prepare for, and I’m sure we will go out there and do our thing.

“We’ve got to have it in the back of our minds that they have embarrassed us a bit when we have played there in previous years, so it’s something we’ve got to be a bit mindful of, and that we can’t let happen.

“It’s pretty similar to Cas (Castleford Tigers), where it’s an old school ground and the fans make it as hostile as they can, but as a team we’ve got to thrive off that. There’s no way around it really. Everyone will be ready for it.”

Smithies admits as someone who has grown up watching Leeds United, getting the chance to play at Elland Road in the semi-finals of the competition would be an exciting prospect for him personally.

“It would be class to play there,” he added.

“I’m not the biggest of Leeds fans but I have always followed them. I was on about it with Zak (Hardaker) last week, and we were saying it would be pretty special. He said it would be like ‘a dream come true.’

“I’ve played at a few good stadiums with Magic Weekend, Anfield and Newcastle, so Elland Road would be another one to tick off.”

Earlier this week Wigan welcomed fans down to Robin Park Arena for an open training session as part of their preparations for the Wakefield game.

“It was class,” said Smithies.

“All the boys loved it, and really appreciate the fans for taking the time out of their day to come and watch us train. It added a bit more to the session, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

“The kids could interact with us, running up, passing the ball and tackling. We were asked to sign their tops. I can imagine it would’ve been pretty good for them.

“You never know, in 10 years time some of them could be playing at first team level with us.”