CROSFIELDS must not get “wrapped up in the occasion” when they face Rochdale Mayfield in the Challenge Cup first round on Saturday, head coach Jimmy Williams says.

Soap’s trip to Mayfield Sports Centre has been chosen by the BBC as the game which will be streamed live on the BBC Sport website, with the game kicking off at 2pm.

There is a two-division gap between the sides, with the hosts plying their trade in the National Conference League Premier Division while Soap are preparing for their second season back in Division Two.

It will be Soap’s first game in rugby league’s most prestigious knockout competition since 2011 and Williams, a former Soap player who has taken over from Mark Brennan in the head coaching role at Hood Lane, is under no illusions about the task that faces his side but hopes they can catch the hosts off guard.

“Rochdale Mayfield are one of the best amateur teams in the country. What we’re hoping is that they see us as a stepping stone,” he told the Guardian.

“Everybody is writing us off and, although we’re two divisions below them, there isn’t as much of a gap as it looks.

“If we played a Premier Division team now, I’d be confident in us turning them over.

“We know how good Rochdale are, but I want the lads to have a good crack at them.

“We’ve got good quality in the team, but we can’t get too wrapped up in the whole occasion of it.

“Hopefully we can catch them off guard a little bit.”

Soap have played out two Challenge Cup first-round ties against Mayfield in the recent past, losing 48-4 in 2008 before a much closer game in 2010 saw the Rochdale outfit run out 22-12 winners.

Williams played in the halves for the Hood Lane side in the last meeting and thinks he knows where his team can gain an advantage on Saturday.

“They are physical and they can throw the ball about, but we will have a gameplan for them,” he said.

“We think they can be got at in terms of fitness and completion, because that will build frustration for them.

“They only started training a week before Christmas, and we’d already been in for six weeks before that.

“If we stick to the gameplan, we’ve got every chance of beating them.”

After their exploits in the cup, Crosfields’ focus will switch back to league matters as they prepare for a trip to Hunslet Warriors in their opening Division Two fixture on March 3.

They won promotion from Division Three in 2016 and narrowly missed out on a play-off place a league higher last year.

Williams says he has been impressed with his players’ attitude in pre-season, which started way back in November.

The new boss believes their early start has given them the jump on their rivals.

“Before I was appointed, the lads had been asking around for places to train. They wanted to get going as soon as possible,” he said.

“A lot of clubs didn’t start back until after Christmas but we’d been training for two months solidly before that.

“Having three months off is too long. The lads have trained the house down and I could not be more impressed with how they’ve been.”

“It is a tough start for us at Hunslet Warriors and I think that’s six years on the bounce that we’ve been away from home for our first game!

“We’re hoping that we’ll be there or thereabouts fitness wise and that will get us through.”