Whitehaven coach Carl Forster is expecting a tough forward battle when League One title favourites Toronto Wolfpack visit the Recreation Ground.

Weather conditions will dictate the nature of Sunday’s game and, with heavy going expected, a slog in the mud is the likely outcome.

Forster said: “It certainly won’t be anything like Wolfpack experienced at London Skolars on Saturday.

“They use an artificial pitch now and Toronto were able to play an expansive game.

“Judging by what our pitch has been like recently, that is going to be difficult to put into practice and I’m preparing for a good old-fashioned forward battle.

“By all accounts, that’s what it was like at Siddal in the Challenge Cup when they struggled to beat the amateurs 14-6.”

The Wolfpack opened their League One programme with a 76-0 win in London against the Skolars while Whitehaven were getting their season off to a wining start with the 27-10 success at South Wales Ironmen.

“Obviously the win pleased me, but I was really impressed with the amount of talking the players did out there on the pitch,” added Forster.

“It was something we haven’t been doing and it really helped.

“When we went down to 11 men and they scored two tries, it could have been a signal for heads to drop and we would lose our way, like we had been doing in the friendlies.

“But we got through a tough 15-minute spell very well indeed, which was very encouraging.

“Getting the lads away overnight probably helped.

"We watched the boxing together and generally enjoyed each other’s company which really boosted team spirit.”

It’s been confirmed, meanwhile, that Whitehaven will not have to face former New Zealand international Fuifui Moimoi as part of the Pack line-up.

He has been given a three-match ban following his dismissal in Toronto’s first competitive match.

The prop was sent off five minutes from the end of the Wolfpack’s hard-fought win over Siddal in the third round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup for a high tackle.

He was found guilty of the offence when he appeared in front of a Rugby Football League independent disciplinary tribunal, which downgraded the charge from grade E, which could have meant a ban of up to eight matches, to grade D, which carries a tariff of between three and five games.

Moimoi, who was also fined £75, will start his suspension when Toronto visit Whitehaven on Sunday and also misses their fourth round cup tie against London Broncos on Friday week and a league game at Keighley.

The former Parramatta and Leigh forward, who scored the first hat-trick of his career in the Wolfpack’s big win over London Skolars, will be able to return for their League One game at Doncaster on April 9 and will be free to play in the club's historic first home game against Oxford on May 6.