Hull rivals top Magic bill at the Etihad

The Hull KR coach, Craig Sandercock, is hoping his side's club-record Super League win over Castleford can inspire them to a derby-day success in Manchester this evening. The Robins ran in 12 tries in a 70-12 blitz of the Tigers last weekend, setting themselves up for a Magic Weekend encounter with Hull at the Etihad Stadium.

"We will be going in with momentum and confidence, and we will need to," Sandercock said yesterday. "Hull FC are way ahead of us on the table and are playing well. We are looking to put in a much better performance than last time. It was pleasing to get 80 minutes for the first time against Castleford and it was pleasing to get a performance like that. We need to transfer that to the top sides and that's what Hull are."

Sandercock is excited by the concept of all 14 sides appearing at the Etihad over the course of the weekend. "It's a very impressive stadium," he said. "It's a special place to be, especially after Manchester City won the Premier League. We're really excited about it – it's a pleasure to be here."

The Hull coach, Peter Gentle, describes this game as the "toughest" of the five derbies on view this weekend. "It's a true city derby and, while we won the last one, it still took us a few weeks to get over the bruises and also the emotional high of the game," he said. "It's not only the players who feel it emotionally, the whole city rides the rollercoaster with us."

Castleford's coach, Ian Millward, is hoping the return of some familiar faces will help lift his badly mauled Tigers when they kick off the weekend against Wakefield. Ryan McGoldrick remains suspended but half-backs Rangi Chase and Danny Orr are back, while the prop Paul Jackson is poised to make his first appearance of the season and winger Rhys Williams his debut.