WARRINGTON Wolves boss Tony Smith knows the Challenge Cup semi final is not the stage to wobble.

Smith has reached the semi finals in four of the previous five seasons with Wolves, going on to lift the trophy in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

But after suffering a semi-final defeat last year, Wolves’ head of coaching and rugby knows there is no place for premature Wembley dreams.

“I’m excited about it and I think everybody should be excited about it,” he said. “It’s next to the biggest stage, it’s probably the one where you don’t want to wobble.

“You don’t want to wobble if you get through the next one either, you want to perform. But it’s whichever team can focus at this stage of the year and in this sort of game.

“Sometimes you get caught up in what’s coming afterwards and think too much about what’s coming afterwards and don't take care of really what’s needed, and that’s a good performance.”

The Australian also feels it is important to keep Wolves’ preparation as normal as possible ahead of the clash with Leeds Rhinos on Saturday.

“We try to keep things as normal as possible, everybody knows it is different to a regular league game,” he added.

“There are no second chances. With that knockout format everybody has a little bit of tenseness and is a little bit on edge, but that’s the beauty of it.

“We won’t be approaching it too much differently. I don’t have to spell it out to the players, they know.

“They know what’s at the end of the rainbow, each end. One’s a sour taste, one’s a fantastic taste.”