ADRIAN LAM believes a win over Warrington Wolves at Magic Weekend is “critical” for Leigh Leopards’ top-six hopes.

Leigh lie seventh, two points below Hull KR, who currently occupy the final play-off spot.

The Leopards are yet to beat Warrington this season, having lost 42-6 (Super League) and 24-10 (Challenge Cup) across consecutive weekends in April.

“It is a big one for us in a sense of where we sit in the season,” said coach Lam of the Hill Dickinson Stadium showdown, which will close the first day of Magic Weekend.

“It’s one we need to win. It’s critical that we get a great performance in and get closer to climbing into into that top six.”

Leigh come into Magic Weekend off the back of a 40-16 win in sweltering heat in Toulouse.

Recovery has been key in their preparations, but Lam believes their efforts in the south of France will not negatively impact upon today’s result.

“It’s been a difficult week because we played in 40-degree temperatures at Toulouse,” he admitted. “Before kick-off, it was 41 on the field, I think.

“We’ve had to just try and slow the week down earlier on to try and get their load back in and we make sure we recover really well.

“But we’re pretty excited about this. It’s a stadium that I’ve never been to before and we’ve never played at, so I’m pretty excited about the opportunity. 

“Last year we had a similar game at Catalans and then went to Leeds, who won 48-30, a really high-scoring game.

“We’re aware of what it can take out of you. I tried to minimise the bench last week, I didn’t bring back on Isaac Liu or Joe Ofahengaue because we had that lead, so hopefully we’ve managed that process a little bit better this year.

“But Warrington have been going good as well, so it’ll be a pretty tough game.”