Matty Barron says Newcastle Thunder will face a different type of challenge when they take on Workington Town today in the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup third round.

Up against a fellow Kingstone Press League One outfit in their first home tie in the competition since 2012, Mick Mantelli’s side is targeting progression into the fourth round after being knocked out by amateur side Siddal in last year’s competition.

It was a game the Australian head coach was forced to use as an opportunity to assess his playing squad after his January arrival on Tyneside resulted in a truncated pre-season and a situation that allowed the Yorkshire side to pull off a cup upset.

With opposition of equal standard and on an equal footing, Barron maintains the game will be tough, but for different reasons.

“The Challenge Cup throws up the chance of an amateur team going up against a professional side and it’s a mixed bag really, in some ways, you want to try and avoid the amateur teams because it’s their cup final,” he said.

“It makes it a real tough game and a different game, you’re not playing against a professional side.

"It’s not as structured and those boys really rip in from the amateur teams.

“The other side of the coin is Workington are a tough team and always have been.

"For as long as I’ve been playing, you go to Workington and you know you have been there."

He added: “Drawing them isn’t a relief by any means, but we know that what we have at Kingston Park, we are able to compete with them and give them a good go.

“If we turn up, go through the things we have been working on, we can progress into the next round and build a little bit of a cup run.”