IF Warrington Wolves are to defeat Leeds Rhinos tonight they will have to beat the statistics as well as the men in front of them.

For Brian McDermott’s side have not lost two games on the bounce all season and go into tonight’s clash at Headingley Carnegie on the back of a 29-18 Magic Weekend defeat to table-toppers Castleford Tigers.

They have a slightly stronger squad available tonight than last week, with Australian prop Mitch Garbutt back in the reckoning after missing three games with a head injury.

Garbutt, who replaces young gun Alex Sutcliffe in the 19-man squad, will add further grunt to a big and mobile pack that has more often than not got Leeds on the front foot this season.

Since The Wire bagged their first win of the campaign against Leeds at The Halliwell Jones Stadium on April 7, McDermott’s men have been more ‘up’ than ‘down’.

Their only home defeat came in this period, a surprise home fall to Huddersfield Giants at the end of April.

Super League wins at Catalans, without their England player Kallum Watkins, and at Hull FC, 52-14, give an indication of the form that currently sees them sit fourth on the ladder.

Expect their style of play to be similar to Warrington’s in some ways.

Leeds and Warrington share the highest rankings for runs out of dummy half and offloads after 14 rounds of Super League, though Wolves are well ahead in the former and Leeds are in the latter.

Wolves managed to apply a lot of pressure to Leeds when winning at The Halliwell Jones Stadium in round eight and will probably need to again if they are to have a second success this season against a team that have pulled off more tackles than any other in the competition so far this year.

Supporters should be aware of tighter security planned at Headingley tonight. Bag searches will take place on entry to the ground. Rhinos chiefs are asking fans to leave bags at home to help ease congestion at the turnstile.

Arrive early and watch Wolves’ under 19s take on the hosts in the curtain-raiser at 5.30pm.

ONE TO WATCH – Adam Cuthbertson

WOLVES need to clamp his offloads.

Cuthbertson, a teammate of Kurt Gidley at Newcastle Knights for three years, touches the ball more often than any other Leeds player armed with the brief to make things happen.

It is when the Aussie prop, whose father John hails from Warrington, secures second-phase attack that Leeds are at their most dangerous.

Warrington Guardian: Adam Cuthbertson is set for his Challenge Cup debut