LINDSAY Anfield hopes that York Valkyrie will do themselves justice at title rivals Wigan Warriors this afternoon (2:30pm).

York secured a historic second consecutive Betfred Women’s Super League Leaders’ Shield at the Warriors last summer, but with St Helens heading the table by four points, their play-off opponents will likely be decided this weekend instead.

Under Denis Betts, the Warriors have noticeably improved this season and are bearing the fruits of their academy and youth set-up.

Their 18-10 victory at the LNER Community Stadium at the end of July showed that the Women’s Super League ‘top three’ has certainly expanded to four, but Anfield admits that match provided a wake-up call that she hopes her side will heed ahead of the play-offs.

“This is the big one isn’t it,” the director of rugby told The Press.

“The girls want to do themselves justice, and that they can actually look back [on the reverse fixture] and say that their heads weren’t in the right place.

“We weren’t as focused as we needed to be when we played them last time, but credit to Wigan, they’ve improved in every game this year and they’ve been really good to watch.

“With some of the signings that they’re probably going to make in the off-season, they’ll be one of the top teams again next year.

“But we’ve known this was coming from their Under 16s pathway that they put in place a few years ago. They were hammering teams at that age group and putting a lot of points past them.

“There were obviously going to be a number of players coming through that would be top-quality players.

“It’s Wigan, and every kid in Wigan plays and plays early. They know how to play tough, how to defend and then take the line on, and the kids coming through are doing that.

“Credit to them, but at the weekend, we’ve definitely got a point to prove.”

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Whilst many York fans had been hoping to take in both the Valkyrie’s clash with Wigan and York Knights’ battle with fellow play-off hopefuls Widnes Vikings, that will now no longer be possible.

Pitch renovations at Robin Park have seen Anfield’s side not only have to contend with closures along the M62, but now a kick-off time delayed by two-and-a-half hours and a change of venue to Leigh Miners Rangers’ Sutton Park.

And they are also not without adversity on the pitch, with captain, full-back Tara Jane Stanley, suffering an ACL injury during last weekend’s 32-6 victory at Leeds Rhinos.

Whilst losing the former Woman of Steel is a devastating blow for York, Anfield is excited to see other members of her squad step up in her absence.

“At first, we were just hoping it was going to be something pretty minor where she’d get back for the play-offs or potentially the final,” she explained.

“But to get the news that she was going to be out for a pretty long time - an ACL is probably the worst injury in rugby league - it was devastating for her, for myself, for the squad, and for the club.

“But she’s being pretty positive about it and I know that she’ll tackle the rehab in the best way possible.

Losing captain Tara Jane Stanley to an ACL injury is 'devastating', says Anfield.Losing captain Tara Jane Stanley to an ACL injury is 'devastating', says Anfield. (Image: Alan Milner/Milner Creative/York RLFC)

“We probably have got a replacement full-back in Georgie [Hetherington] but it is Tara’s kicking game that in my opinion, is the best in the league.

“To cover the goal kicking and the in-field kicking is going to be hard, but the girls are digging in now, they’re being really tough.

“They’re doing their extras before and after training, they’re going out on their own to the fields to practice their goal kicking and practicing their out and out kicking.

“I can’t ask any more of them, and we’ve just got to do our best with the situation.”