Mick Dobson has vivid memories of his Wigan debut against St Helens in front of an 18,000 crowd two years ago but he is expecting his first Hull derby to be an even bigger and better experience.

The Australian scrum-half is two months into his spell with Hull KR and eagerly anticipating running out against city rivals Hull FC in front a 20,000-plus crowd for the 205th derby at the KC Stadium on Sunday.

"I played against Saints in the derby, so I know what to expect," he said. "I've heard it's a bit bigger than that so I'm looking forward to the game.

"It should be good. The guys have told me the fans get into it a fair bit. Hopefully we can make it four wins in a row."

Rovers, who enjoyed a handsome victory on their last visit to the KC Stadium last year and have won both derbies so far this year, ended a six-match losing run with a 39-22 success against Wigan last Sunday.

Dobson, who scored four tries against the Warriors, is hoping his side have run into form at the right time as they seek to keep alive their slender play-off hopes.

"It was good to get a win and obviously it was good for me because I got four tries," he said. "Hopefully we can have a performance like that this week and get a win over Hull.

"The team have been struggling and I've been a bit inconsistent since I got here which hasn't helped.

"But all the boys kept their heads up and are training hard. It paid off last weekend so hopefully it can pay off this weekend."

Dobson, who opted to join Rovers ahead of Hull and a host of other clubs, was last week hailed by coach Justin Morgan as "the best scrum-half in the city" in a thinly-veiled reference to his former captain James Webster, whose hopes of making his debut for the Black and Whites on Sunday appear to have been dashed by red tape.

Morgan insists his comments were taken out of context and Dobson is keen not to become embroiled in the controversy.

"I'm not buying too much into that," he said. "I didn't have the chance to have much to do with James but good luck to him."

Wakefield seek to halt a three-match losing run when they take on Bradford in a crucial game at Odsal that will have a huge bearing on the play-offs.

Wildcats coach John Kear, whose side face Hull in the Challenge Cup semi-final next Sunday, has described Sunday's

match as another "eliminator", with the losers unlikely to make the top six.

Bulls coach Steve McNamara, whose side have won just two of their last seven League games, admits it could be a make-or-break fixture for both teams.

"I am sure they will be highly motivated because they have places to play for in the semi-final and, the way the league table is at the moment, sixth spot is up for grabs so it's a big, big game for both sides," he said.

"We'd like to have won more games and been higher but we are where we are and we get another opportunity to cement our place in the top six this week."

In Sunday's other game, bottom club Castleford will be aiming to take advantage of a depleted Harlequins when they visit the Twickenham Stoop.

Quins fell from seven to 11th place in the Frontline Fairplay Index after having no fewer than five players banned as a result of their ill-tempered defeat by Catalans Dragons last Saturday - a far cry from last year when the Londoners were the best-disciplined team in Super League.

Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Rikki Sheriffe, Michael Worrincy, David Howell and Tony Clubb all sit out tomorrow's game, while Castleford are boosted by the return of co-captain Awen Guttenbeil as they look to bounce back from their drubbing by St Helens.

Coach Terry Matterson said: "We need to react to a disappointing performance at St Helens and I'll be looking for a big improvement.

"Harlequins have been hit with bans to five players but they still have some very talented players in their squad and are welcoming back three players from injury.

"We saw at Leeds the other week how a team can react to losing some of their regulars when those stepping in lifted their game.

"For our part we plan on the basis of facing 17 good players and we have to make sure that we are ready for a very tough game."

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