IF they stick to what they have worked on, Ian Watson is confident his Huddersfield Giants players will “handle” the threat of Warrington Wolves debutant Matt Dufty this afternoon.

The Australian full-back will make his Wire debut at the John Smith’s Stadium after joining from NRL side Canterbury Bulldogs last week.

Listen to more from Watson, Dufty and Wire boss Daryl Powell in our match preview podcast below

Watson says his side have been planning to come up against the 26-year-old during their pre-match preparations and having examined the possibility of signing him during his time as Salford Red Devils coach, he is confident he knows what to expect from Dufty.

Warrington Guardian:

Matt Dufty will make his Warrington Wolves debut today. Picture by Warrington Wolves

“We expect him to play,” the Giants boss said.

“The risk for them is by throwing him in when he’s just come across from Australia is whether he does any damage or not.

“That’s up to them to decide but we’ve had a little look at him anyway. He’s a player I know pretty well and I know what strengths he can bring.

“He’s a very good attacking player but defensively is where he gets caught out or where things are labelled at him.

“He’ll want to make an impression but if we work real well to our system, we’ll handle him.”

Like Warrington, Watson’s men come into the game having suffered back-to-back defeats against leaders St Helens and fellow top-four hopefuls Catalans Dragons.

However, today marks their return to home soil after five games on the road.

Five of their seven remaining fixtures are at the John Smith’s Stadium and two of them are against The Wire – Daryl Powell’s men are due to visit again on August 29.

Warrington Guardian:

After today's game, Warrington are due to visit the John Smith's Stadium again on August 29. Picture by SWPix.com

“For the amount of away games we’ve had, I think we’ve put ourselves into a really good position,” Watson said.

“What the boys have done all season has set us up really well and what we need to do is take advantage of that position by nailing our home games.”

The game also sees centres Toby King and Jake Wardle come up against their parent clubs after last month’s loan swap deal between the two sides.

The deal means Warrington’s King will spend the rest of the season with Huddersfield while Wardle will do the same at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Under the terms of the agreement, both players are eligible to face their parent sides but Watson says he has not leant on King too much for inside information on the opposition.

Warrington Guardian:

Toby King is set to face his parent club today, as is Wire's on-loan Huddersfield centre Jake Wardle. Picture by SWPix.com

“I’ve not really spoken to him or asked him about it,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s a difficult one when you’ve got a player from another club asking them how they go about things.

“For us, it’s more focusing on ourselves and putting our own best performance rather than worrying about Warrington.

“The big thing for us is to focus on ourselves at the moment in terms of what we’re doing poorly and need to fix up, and what we’re doing well to give us a shot in the game.

“We’ve had a look at a few things in and around our own game and what we need to be better at to make sure we get a result.”