Warriors v Vikings: Teams

Monday night's Stobart Super League offering on Sky Sports sees top play bottom at the DW Stadium when Wigan entertain Widnes.

The red-hot Warriors go in search of a 10th straight league victory against one of only three sides to have beaten them so far this season.

Back in March coach Shaun Wane elected to rest several of his star players for the game at the Stobart Stadium Halton - a decision that backfired as Widnes recorded a shock 37-36 triumph.

"Widnes well deserved their win earlier in the season," Wane said. "We weren't at our best that day.

"The players have already spoke about it. We are keen for revenge from that loss that really hurt us.

"The one thing we have here is a team of mentally tough people and we have spoken about what happened to us that day and we want to fix it up. If we perform well and we are mentally there then we will do okay.

"Widnes are a Super League team who are well coached. Denis Betts is doing his very best with the players he has got and they are a threat. They can play and score tries."

The home team are without one of their leading lights again for the return clash, Thomas Leuluai having suffered a broken leg in action for the Exiles.

The absence of the scrum-half means Sean O'Loughlin is likely to move from loose forward into the half-back positions.

Pat Richards, Harrison Hansen, Stuart Fielden, Gil Dudson and Ben Flower are also sidelined, but Wane is able to welcome back prop Paul Prescott.

Briscoe back

Widnes, meanwhile, will have a former Wigan player back in their ranks for the daunting trip to the leaders.

Full-back Shaun Briscoe, who scored two tries in the win over the Cherry and Whites earlier this year, returns from a three-month absence with a groin injury.

Stand-off Joe Mellor, who is on loan from Wigan, is also available again after suspension to bolster the side that lost 28-24 at London Broncos in their last match, a result that dropped them back to the foot of the standings.

Alex Gerrard and Danny Craven are in contention, with Macgraff Leuluai and Tom Gilmore dropping out of the 19-man squad.

"Wigan are top of the league and they're beating the top sides by 50 points," said Widnes coach Denis Betts, the former Wigan and Great Britain forward.

"We've got nothing to lose and we'll be giving it everything we've got. It's going to be an exciting night."

Wigan squad: S. Tomkins, Charnley, Goulding, Carmont, Finch, Prescott, McIlorum, Mossop, Hock, O'Loughlin, Farrell, Tuson, Lauaki, Gelling, Hughes, L. Tomkins, Spencer, Crosby, Lloyd.

Widnes squad: Ah Van, Allen, Briscoe, Cahill, Clarke, Craven, Cross, Davies, Dean, Flynn, Gerrard, Haggerty, Hanbury, Isa, McShane, Mellor, Phelps, Pickersgill, Winterstein.