BARROW Raiders Ladies head coach Amanda Wilkinson says there is no pressure on her side as they kick-off an historic season tonight.

Raiders face Wigan Warriors Women at the DW Stadium this evening – the history makers becoming the first Cumbrian side to compete at Super League level.

There is a desire from Raiders to both enjoy and compete at the highest level of the Women’s game.

But Wilkinson says the players are not under any pressure.

She told The Mail: “There’s no pressure on the game tonight.

“We are going into the Super League, and as always, no matter what the occasion or fixture is our goal is the same, it’s all about performance.

“I think that helps to keep the players level-headed.  We talk about performance all of the time.

“Unless it was a must-win game to get promotion, then there’s a pressure to win.

“Of course, we always want to win, but we never talk about it much.

“We always talk about how can we perform? How can we be the best we can be?

“How can we play honest and train honest?”

Wilkinson knows better than most just how big an occasion tonight’s clash will be.

But she believes her side have the skills and mindset they need not to be overawed by the situation.

She added: “Last year was a really challenging experience, and tomorrow looking at the environment it is no bigger an occasion than when we had to go to the final to win promotion.

“That was a really big day. We knew exactly how many points we had to score and everything, so the pressure that day was massive.

“But we put a lot of focus on culture and environment which we create in training all week.

“I believe that puts them in good stead to be quite level-headed.

“To be fair to them, I have coached for over 20-years and they are quite a steady group.

“They are mentally tough really and are quite balanced.

“Yes going to the DW they are proud to be part of this massive occasion which is history in the making to go and play there, but I think they may have felt a little bit more emotional or attached to the game if it had been at Craven Park.

“They are just so focused on going and performing well in the first game in the Super League.”