Simon Grix, coach of shock Challenge Cup semi-finalists Halifax, has a message for his players ahead of the visit to Craven Park: Forget St Helens and concentrate on Barrow Raiders.

All thoughts of their semi-final tie against Saints will be shelved when Halifax resume their bid for a place in the Championship play-offs, but Grix is confident that his squad will not allow their Cup success to distract them from their aim for a top-five finish.

“It shouldn’t be a distraction – it is six weeks away,” he said. “This game [at Barrow] is massive for us. We have got ourselves into a position where every game carries extra significance.”

Following their Cup success at Bradford, Halifax suffered a heavy defeat in the 1895 Cup when they fielded a below strength side against Sheffield Eagles, going down 52-8, and were still below their best when they lost 31-8 at Leigh last Sunday.

After that defeat, Fax lie in eighth place, four points adrift of a play-off spot, and Grix added: “The table does not look pretty but we believe we can do it. We have got to back up efforts with some smart rugby. The reality is that we have to start taking points off teams above us and we have a tough period coming up.”

Fixtures against Bradford, Featherstone, Toronto and Widnes follow the trip to Barrow where they will be without prop Dan Fleming who was given a one-match penalty notice after he was sent off in the defeat at Leigh.

The men from The Shay have an impressive recent record against the Raiders and on their last visit they ran in eight tries to clock up a 48-22 victory.

Last month, they repeated the punishment over in Yorkshire where Barrow were beaten 46-10 with tries from Jake Spedding and Tee Ritson being of little consolation for the visitors.

Time is also running out for Barrow to step up their survival bid and they have only nine more games after tomorrow’s clash with Halifax – and these include tough visits to Featherstone, Sheffield and Toronto.