IT'S full steam ahead at Hilton Park as Leigh Centurions put the final preparations in place for Saturday's historic match against Russian champions Locomotiv Moscow writes Mike Hulme

The Centurions aim to make it a night to remember on and off the pitch.

The TXU Energi Challenge Cup third round tie has sparked great interest in the town with the Centurions keen to push the boat out to mark the special occasion.

The teams will enter the arena on Saturday night accompanied by local junior players and to a cacophony of fireworks. Both sides will be presented to RL legends Billy Boston and Eric Ashton as well as civic dignitaries. The crowd will be entertained by a gymnastics display and a commemorative video of the game will be made.

The Centurions feel honoured to become the first Britsih pro club to take on Russian opposition in the world famous competition.

"It's a great occasion for us," says head coach Paul Terzis. "It's a chance for the new club to put on a real show and prove to the rest of the game that we're in business and can organise a big game."

Terzis admits to knowing little about the make-up of the Russian champions but says: "We've got to respect what they've achieved.

"All Russian sports teams are general big, strong and committed. I'm not expecting anything else on Saturday. What have they got to lose, absolutely nothing. We're the team under pressure to produce a result."

Locomotiv arrived in England today (Thursday) and will head back to Moscow on Sunday. In their squad are six players who represented Russian in the 2000 World Cup - Andrei Doumalkine, Igor Gavriline, Igor Jiltsov, Alexander Lysenkov, Vadim Postnikov and Petr Sokolov.

Leigh will be without Aussie winger Michael Watts who suffered a back strain in last Sunday's win over Oldham. His place on the flank will be taken by Eric Andrews. Another with a back complaint is Phil Kendrick and he's also likely to miss out. John Duffy has recovered from a bruised sternum and will figure.