WIDNES boss Denis Betts is relishing the prospect of facing St Helens in the quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup at the end of June.

Betts saw his side produce a sub-par performance to scrape past Batley 26-22 in Sunday's last 16 encounter and is well aware his charges will have to improve massively if they want to reach the semi-final stage.

Saints-Widnes was the last tie to come out of the hat with Keiron Cunningham's team gaining home advantage.

Betts would naturally have preferred the game to be at the Select Security Stadium but isn't daunted by the short trip to Langtree Park.

He said "Your hope is to get out of the hat first, then what will be will be.

"Then again, we've not got far to travel!

"It's great for the supporters and the people of the town. It's going to be a big game.

"We've had a couple of good tussles with Saints this year and over the last few years.

"It's an exciting draw and that's what you want from the Challenge Cup. That's the reason the top teams were entered later in the draw.

"We'll have four live TV games and we're expecting four great spectacles. That's what the game needs at this stage in a major cup competition."

With a six week lead-in to the Cup tie, Betts' current focus is on his side's visit to Belle Vue to play Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday.

The Wildcats fell victim to Championship hotshots Leigh in the Cup on Sunday and after a run of eleven consecutive Super League defeats parted company with coach James Webster this week.

Widnes have yet to win away from home this season and will be hoping to catch Wakefield at a low ebb.

However, Betts will be wary of the potential for a reaction to Webster's departure and he can also see the unrealised potential in the Wildcats line-up.

He added "Everybody's talking down Wakefield at the moment but the fact of the matter is they've still got a lot of quality in that side.

"If they do get an opportunity to turn the corner a little bit, then they'll take it. We don't want to give them that which is about our mental approach more than anything else.

"On paper they had a fantastic team on the field against Leigh at the weekend.

"They had Collis in the centre and Hall at fullback. Smith at scrum-half's a fantastic player and McShane's a good hooker. Scruton and Anderson are big front-rowers and they've got Lauitiiti coming off the bench.

"We've got to put them in an uncomfortable place and perform to the levels we did against Saints, Warrington and Leeds."

Fullback Rhys Hanbury and second rower Danny Galea will return to the Vikings line-up after missing the Batley game. Prop Ben Kavanagh, currently on-loan at Wakefield, will not be allowed to play against his parent club.